Landowners receive $1.5M bonus payment from PM

Landowners who lease their land to Fiji Pine Limited today received a total bonus payment of $1.5 million from Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama for the profits made by the company last year.

Speaking at the distribution of the lease security bonus payments to landowners, Bainimarama says Fiji Pine recorded profits of $24.12 million in 2015, an extraordinary turnaround of $28.6 million from the $5 million loss in 2010.

Bainimarama says Fiji Pine has emerged as a shining example of what Government can accomplish when it attracts the right people and work together with the industry, an example of how sustainable practises and development can take performance to new level.      

He says this bonus is a direct return to the landowners who have leased their land to Fiji Pine Limited, and it arrives on top of the $1.1 million paid out for ground rent, $910,000 for stumpage and $660,000 for forest-based levies to the forests in Lololo, Bua, Nabou, Nadi, Macuata and Ra.

The Prime Minister also opened a new Vislanda Sawmill worth $16.25 million and Windsor Kiln system which has been constructed at a cost of $1.87 million.