Lynda Tabuya presented kitchen items to the Dakuivuna Women’s Club and the Sawakasa Women’s Group in Tailevu on 5 March 2024. She encouraged the women to capitalise on the government assistance for the betterment of their families and their village community. Photo: Facebook / Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection - Fiji
Fiji's government has hit back on criticism that social welfare allowances are not sustainable, due to the high cost of living.
Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Lynda Tabuya, highlighted the issue in Parliament on Wednesday, following repeated comments from the opposition and civil society leaders.
She said the issue is not the government's sole responsibility, but rather the family's.
"I wish to issue a reminder it is not the sole responsibility of government to financially sustain the welfare of our social welfare recipients.
"It is first and foremost the responsibility of the family," she said.
''Government merely supplements this responsibility in recognition of the service of our older persons that have given to Fiji and supplementary support for our most vulnerable which are our poor, our children and our disabled.
''For those that truly need more support Honourable speaker who are abandoned by their family, then this is done on a case-by-case basis."
Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) executive director, Vani Catanasiga, agreed with the minister's comments but said more support for families would go a long way.
Catanasiga said Tabuya's statement may not have been necessary.
''It's perhaps not the type of statements that should be coming from a ministry whose sole mandate is to is to provide that support.
"It's a statement...to those of us who are looking on from the outside it almost seems like a statement of defeat."
She said clarification on the statement will be needed, to talk about how best to support those in need.
"Call together all stakeholders, those who agree and those who don't agree, so that we can talk about exactly what she's alluding to in in her statement where she's saying that it's not the sole responsibility of governments.
"I think then the next step is to call and convince stakeholders together so that we can talk how we actually look into the responsibilities for looking after the vulnerable," she said.
More than 90,000 people in Fiji are on social welfare benefits.
When the Finance Minister Biman Prasad unveiled the 2024-2025 Budget two weeks ago, he said it was the "moral responsibility of any compassionate government to ensure that most vulnerable in our society, the poor, persons with disabilities, elderly, children or other disadvantaged persons are well supported by the state."
Prasad said Fiji needed well-equipped, responsive institutions and laws that ensure that vulnerable people are not left out.
He announced that Tabuya's ministry was allocated FJ$200.2 million, a major increase of FJ$52.5m, and social welfare recipients would benefit from increased monthly allowances of 15 and 25 percent from next month.
