The Housing Authority of Fiji alloted lots to customers who already owned properties and it did not carry out independent verifications of the customers’ income, when processing the allotment of lots.
This is stated in the Auditor-Generals’ Housing Authority – Special Investigation on Allotment of Lots and Tender Process report that was tabled in Parliament on Monday.
The findings reveal three cases where more than one lot was sold to the same customer in the Tacirua IB Subdivision.
The Auditor-General said it carried out an independent verification of income and first home ownership provided by all recipients of lots from January 1, 2010 to July 20, 2020 by looking at records from Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS), Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF), titles office and other institutions.
“The criterion for disclosing ‘household’ income was not enforced by the authority.,” the report stated.
“This created opportunity for applicants to circumvent the allotment criteria, by not disclosing their household income.
“This provided the opportunity for a family member whose income was below $50,000 to individually apply for lots.”
