CORRUPTION and mismanagement by Fiji Pine delayed the Wairiki project in Bua by 15 years.
Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama made this comment as he launched the chipping operations at the Wairiki Port in Bua on Vanua Levu yesterday.
Commodore Bainimarama said the project had been almost 15 years in the making. However, he said Fiji Pine was far too long fraught with corruption and was terribly mismanaged.
"All we saw were delays," Commodore Bainimarama said.
"We cannot allow this to happen in this or any public enterprise," he said.
Commodore Bainimarama applauded the present management for bringing positive changes to the company.
"The current management has eradicated corrupt practices," he said. "They have paid down long standing debt and have even made record profits."
Commodore Bainimarama said the current management had also invested in the forest, the factory and in human capital.
Fiji Pine Ltd and Tropik Wood Industries Ltd broke its past records when it more than doubled its highest profit of $4.35 million in 2008 to record a consolidated profit before tax of $8.8 million for the 2011 financial year.