More than $148,000 from the Taiwan Grant Trust Fund held by the Office of the Prime Minister was used in 2024 to pay for overseas training for Fiji Police Personal Protective Officers, the latest Auditor‑General’s report reveals. The allocation of $148,389 was recorded for the financial year ending July 31, 2024, the report on the General Administration Sector shows.
Police Personal Protective Officers are the unit deployed to provide close security for the Prime Minister. The Taiwan Grant Trust Fund is the vehicle used to manage grants provided by the Taiwanese Government to Fiji under bilateral agreements. According to the report, funds from the trust are typically directed toward projects endorsed by the Prime Minister after community requests are assessed on the basis of need and priority, and generally support education, integrated village and settlement developments, youth programs, women’s initiatives and minority group development that are not funded through the national budget.
The Auditor‑General’s figures also show a sharp fall in incoming funds in 2024. Total receipts for the trust fund in the year were only $2,015, down from $75,402 in 2023. The drop was attributed in the report to the absence of new Taiwan grant assistance during the reporting year. Despite the low receipts, total payments from the fund reached $259,416 for 2024, producing a net deficit of $257,401 for the year.
Alongside the PPO overseas training allocation, the report lists other sizable payments from the trust fund during the period: $64,581 to Weightlifting Fiji and $46,410 to Touch Rugby Fiji. Bank charges of $36 were also recorded. The Auditor‑General noted that assistance to the Fiji Police PPO overseas training and the two sporting organisations constituted the major payments from the fund during the reporting period.
The trust fund’s reduced income and the large outflows combined to cut the closing balance to $206,175 as at July 31, 2024, down from $463,576 at the same point in 2023. The report makes clear that the fall in receipts — and the resulting deficit — followed the lack of fresh Taiwanese grant commitments in the year under review.
The Auditor‑General’s disclosure is the most detailed public accounting to date of how funds administered by the Prime Minister’s Office from Taiwan have been allocated. While the trust has a stated mandate to deliver community projects outside the national budget, the report confirms that significant sums were directed to security training for officers assigned to protect the Prime Minister and to national sporting bodies during the 2024 financial year.