More than $500,000 was given on Thursday,04 January 18 in remittance to the Ministry of Economy by the Fiji Corrections Service.
The Commissioner of Corrections Commander Francis Kean presented a cheque of $555,852.38 to the Permanent Secretary, Makereta Konrote.
This was the generated annual output for 2017 from the Small Business Units (SBU) of the Fiji Corrections Service operating under the Trade and Manufacturing Account (TMA) in the Naboro Corrections Complex.
Commander Kean said this was the third such return the FCS was making since the inception of its Trading and Manufacturing Account in 2009 after implementing basic best practises to the way its operations were conducted.
In 2015, FCS returned $103,384.56 to Government and in 2016 the figures doubled to $358,160.23 despite the revised shortened financial year from 12-months to 6-months.
The 2016/17 then output almost tripled to $555,852.38.
Permanent Secretary Makereta Konrote praised the efforts of the FCS and was impressed with the initiatives that helped drove the various rehabilitation projects.
“This achievement is a testament to the amount of work you have been doing in rehabilitation and we are very impressed and also look forward to what can be achieved this year given the right kind of support,’’ said Mrs Konrote.
The six SBU’s of Tailor Unit, Joinery, Poultry, Farms and Piggery play a key role in the FCS’ rehabilitative efforts to ensure those under their care make positive changes in their return to society.
Commander Kean acknowledged the Government support to help FCS operate and said they had taken necessary actions to improve the TMA output through improved internal controls and recruiting qualified people to ensure they make better returns to Government annually.
