Sponsors unaware of carnival preceding

The sponsor for the Ba Farmers Carnival, Telecom Fiji Limited says that it strongly believes that all the proceeds of the carnival will be channeled to a community building initiative honoring the initial understanding between TFL and the carnival committee.

In a statement today, TFL says that they were not aware that the money collected from the carnival would cater for the union office expenses.

When questioned on this issue, Ba Farmers Carnival Committee Chairman Narendra Padarath says that they use the funds to assist the needy in the society but their permit also allows them to fundraise for the National Farmers Union office expenses.

Padarath says a percentage of the money collected is kept for union expenses however when asked by Fijivillage, he said that he cannot confirm the percentage and the amount collected last year and this year.

Padarath also could not confirm whether TFL was aware of a percentage of the funds to be utilised for union expenses.

He says they assisted four families last year who lost their houses in fire incidents and they are looking at assisting 50 students with their education expenses this year.

Padarath says the money collected this year is still intact in the bank account.