THE PROCUREMENT SYSTEM IN FIJI ISLANDS
Uttam Vijay Naidu＊

I. INTRODUCTION
Procurement plays an essential part in the delivery of public services. Fiji is a developing country andgoods and services procured on behalf of the government agencies make up 20% to 40% of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). It also accounts for a substantial part of the global economy. The Fiji Procurement Office was established on the 1st of August 2010 as stipulated under section 4 of the Procurement
Regulation 2010. The Procurement Regulation has outlined strategies which intend to reduce wastage andeliminate fraudulent activities.
It also promotes the following objectives:⿟⿟ Value for money
⿟⿟ Maximize economy and efficiency and ethical use of government resources⿟⿟ Open and fair competition amongst suppliers and contractors
⿟⿟ Integrity, fairness and public confidence in the procurement process⿟⿟ Achieving accountability and transparency in procedures relating to procurement.
Previous Tender Boards and their regulations have been amalgamated into one entity and one law inan effort to centralize procurement. Government reforms are ongoing to improve and attain the goals
defined above.

II. FUNCTIONS OF THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE
The main functions of the Fiji Procurement Office are to regulate and administer the procurement ofgoods, services and work for the government. This includes:
1. The formulation of appropriate procurement policies and processes that uphold the guiding
principle of procurement.
2. The processing of all government tenders for goods, services and work valued over $50,000.00
3. The provision of secretariat support for the newly established Government Tender Board.
4. The provision of logistic support for administration and distribution for goods purchased fromoverseas.
5. Conducting compliance assessments of procurement functions and activities across the whole government.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Fiji Police Force, Republic of Fiji Islands.

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Previously, before the inception of the Procurement Office, there was the Government Supplies Department which was looking after the procurement aspect of the country. At that time, there was the warehousing and retail outlets provided by government for such goods and services but that has now phased
out. Currently, with the Procurement Office functional, it provides insight to the process and functions
involved when dealing with goods and services on behalf of the government. The procurement sector isstill in the evolutionary stage at the moment and needs more awareness and expertise in the near future
to maintain its functions in the proper manner.

III. OFFENCES RELATED TO PROCUREMENT
It is always anticipated when there are goods or services in issue, it is most likely that persons
involved in such transactions are persistent that their product, goods or services are acknowledged fortheir respective price. In order to be recognized, the provider at times may be involved in overt acts inorder to facilitate that particular service or goods to be procured by the government. In doing so, they
become involved in the commission of offences as listed below:
⿟⿟ Bribery
⿟⿟ Abuse of office⿟⿟ Corrupt practices
⿟⿟ Forgery
⿟⿟ Fraud
⿟⿟ Falsification of documents
⿟⿟ Perjury
⿟⿟ Making of false declarations
⿟⿟ Destroying evidence⿟⿟ Theft⿟⿟ Obtaining financial advantage
⿟⿟ Conspiracy to defraud.
⿟⿟ Money laundering

IV. INVESTIGATION
Investigations of such offences are very interesting despite being time consuming and painstaking. Itinvolves the collation of documents as proof to be able to interrogate the perpetrators of the alleged crime.
Initially, a report is lodged with the Police Department regarding the alleged offence. This is normallydone after the agency itself has conducted an internal investigation to establish that an offence has beencommitted. There are various units in the Criminal Investigation Department that deal with certain typesof offences. Once a report is lodged, an Investigating Officer is appointed by the department to investigatethe case. The duties of the investigator are to initially understand the nature of the complaint. He/shethen visits the respective office from where the complaint has been received to identify the contact
persons and elicit from him/her all relevant information pertaining to the complaint. At times when there
is a large scope of avenues required to be covered by the Investigator, then an investigating team isformed and assigned to assist the investigator in carrying out the tasks as required during the course of209

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investigation. The team assigned will be fully versed with the nature of the complaint, the urgency andthe proposed outcome from that investigation.
The Investigator then prepares an investigation plan based on the information he/she has on hand in
the first instance. According to the plan, he/she will obtain information on the systems and processes ofthe organization involved in the alleged offence. This will assist the investigator in the retrieval of the respective documents, tracking the persons involved, and determining actually where and how the offence
was committed. It would also provide an overview as to what happened to the goods or services thatwere intended for a particular purpose and where they have been diverted. Recovery of the goods anddocuments are essential for prosecution. It is also the responsibility of the Investigating Officer to provide
updates on the investigation to the respective complainants.
Once the plan is prepared, all members of the team will be briefed accordingly and designated theirtasks respectively in order to finalize the investigation. The investigator and the Supervising Officer will
always be cautious to ensure that relevant information is not leaked or passed off to any person who could
disrupt the investigation or divert it into another direction. There will be a timeframe allocated to the investigator and likewise to each member of the team to complete in order to achieve their goals within theprescribed time.

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