FUNAFUTI (Pacnews) — Concerns have been raised in the Tuvalu parliament on the continued involvement of a Fijian businessman in the running of Air Fiji.
A recent parliamentary session last month was told that former Fiji parliamentarian and businessman Jim Ah Koy continues to be a board director with the airline even though he no longer owns shares in the company.
Parliamentary records revealed a bitter exchange when the issue was discussed in parliament, culminating in a few vulgar expressions flying across the floor from “opposition” members of parliament.
Senior government officials told Pacnews that Ah Koy offered to stay with the board to assist the Tuvalu government in the running of the airline, which he formerly owned.
However, some parliamentarians are accusing Ah Koy of cheating Tuvalu of some F$22,000 ($10,200) a month. Air Fiji hands him the monthly payment in a deal which placed him as a guarantor for a loan that financed the purchasing of the high tech Brasilia aircraft in 1999.
The high-speed pressurized aircraft is used on domestic routes in Fiji and also serves the Suva-Nuku’alofa and Suva-Funafuti routes.
Tuvalu parliamentarians argued the monthly payment should now be redirected to the Tuvalu government. They say the country bought the right of guarantor for that loan when it purchased Ah Koy’s share in the company.
They accuse incumbent Prime Minister Koloa Talake of having a personal stake in Ah Koy’s business ventures in Tuvalu and thus compromising the country’s national interest.
Locals were stunned at the red carpet treatment accorded Ah Koy on one of his recent visits to Funafuti. While he was hosted to cocktails and dinner by the most senior government official, he was also given a government vehicle for his personal use—a privilege that has not been extended to any other investor in the country.
