Members of the public should prepare for more price increases in other sectors as a result of the soaring fuel prices, says Fiji Chamber of Commerce president Taito Waradi.

He issued the warning while commenting on the proposal for a 12 per cent increase in charges for domestic postal services.

He said the impact of increases in fuel prices to the economy was being seen now "with many more increases to come in future.

Post Fiji Limited's proposed increase has been labelled unjustified by the Fiji Consumer Council's chief executive officer Premila Kumar.

She said the council, in its submission to the Commerce Commission last April, highlighted that the State-owned monopoly had been performing very well given that it recorded a $1.69million profit and paid a dividend of more than $700,000 last year.

"Last month the company's chairman Mahendra Patel stated that the progress of Post Fiji is reflected in the growth of sales from a $13million company in 1996 to the present turnover of $40million in 2005 and the plan is to be a $50million company next year,"said Ms Kumar. "Where then was the justification for the 12 per cent increase?"

She said it was understood that PFL had sought a 40 per cent increase.

"Is the company intending to drive towards the $50million mark through the contribution of the 12 per cent increase at the expense of consumers who are already faced with financial difficulties?"

Ms Kumar said the price increase would impact consumers living in the rural areas and outer islands who did not have the luxury of Internet and email services and hence communicated via letters. While she commended PFL for diversifying its activities, she said the services provided by the company were not worth the price customers were paying.

She also questioned how much PFL had invested in the rural and outer-island areas from the profits the company had made.

Furthermore, Ms Kumar questioned if the company's rate of return would have been affected if the Commerce Commission did not approve any increase since it had diversified its activities beyond purely providing postal services.

Back to Top