Felix Chaudhary 
Staffing issues caused by migration, unavailable raw materials, and adverse weather resulted in the Fiji Roads Authority reporting an unutilized budget of $11.4 million in the 2022-2023 financial year.
This is according to the 2024 Auditor General’s Report tabled in Parliament recently.
The OAG report states that because the FRA could not fully utilize its capital grant released in the third quarter, the fourth-quarter grant was withheld as sufficient funds remained to complete the year’s works.
The OAG noted this led to the under-utilization of the 2022-2023 Budget.
Major reasons for the low spending included shortages of bitumen and aggregates affecting contractors; adverse weather, and a lack of technical capacity due to staff migration and difficulties recruiting skilled engineers.
