Fijians who were not affected by TC Josie or Keni and have already applied and received assistance under the CARE for Fiji Programmes will be granted amnesty until the 27th of this month to return their electronic cards, or any other form of assistance received.

The Government made it clear that the programme is only intended to assist Fijians directly impacted by TC Josie and Keni.

It says that they have seen some reports of abuse across the country.

Audit teams from the Ministry of Economy are undertaking random verifications and spot checks for household and individuals and several cases of suspected abuse have already been referred to Police for investigation.

Abuse of the initiative can include, but is not limited to, misrepresentation on application forms, members of the same household attempting to separately register for the same assistance programme, the re-selling of assistance materials, or the spending of electronic cards at unauthorized vendors.

Electronic cards granted through Farms-CARE can be returned to any agriculture office in the country. All other CARE for Fiji electronic cards, or other forms of assistance, can be returned or refunded at any social welfare office in the country.

All questions regarding the return of electronic cards can be directed to the CARE hotline 2273.

Under the False Information Act 2016, any false information given to Government for the purposes of receiving a benefit is an offence punishable by law, and may result in a requirement to repay the benefit, a fine of up to $20,000 or an imprisonment term of up to 10 years or any or all of the foregoing.