1 Mar 2005

Fiji's Council of Social Services seeks funds to help jobseekers

4:37 pm on 1 March 2005

Fiji's Council of Social services is calling for the government to boost its funds to help those seeking jobs in Kuwait and Iraq.

The council's director, Hassan Khan, says the government is considering giving loans to job applicants, who would have to pay the money back once they secured jobs in the middle east.

Mr Khan says they already have a microfinance program in villages that provides a service loan to help such applicants with visa and set up costs.

He says the average loan they provide per job applicant is around 400 US dollars.

"We're not happy about government jumping in. What we've been saying to government is that if you are making some money available, we have already been doing it. We have a programme, and we have people on the ground doing it. You give that money to us and we'll service that for you, for a fee, instead of them setting up a new office, because half the money will go into servicing the money, knowing what civil servant bureaucracy is."

Hassan Khan, the director of Fiji's Council of Social Services.