THE gap between the poor and the rich has widened through the policies of this Government, says Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube.
He highlighted this as part of the party’s budget review saying poverty was rising, and handouts would only worsen the gap.
“There is nothing in this budget that closes this gap. Unity Fiji will introduce innovative ideas to close the income gap between poor and rich,” Mr Narube said.
He said the government continued to put the future of the country at risk due to the increasing debt.
“We will stop the wastage and re-priorities ineffective expenditures to more pressing areas. Unity Fiji will achieve more for less. We will not burden future generations.”
He said the budget did not include measures to raise agriculture from the very low level it was now at.
For the small and micro business, Mr Narube said this segment of the private sector creates livelihoods and incomes for most families in Fiji.
“I did not see any significant measure that will promote the growth of this important sector. Is it back to handouts? Unity Fiji will lighten the load on small businesses to empower them to grow.
“There is little in this budget to promote resource utilisation. I firmly believe that this holds the key to our future economic performance. Resource owners will, therefore, remain cash poor under this Government. Unity Fiji has an innovative plan to empower resource owners and lift the productivity of our resources,” he said.
