By LITIA MATHEWSELL
The Fiji Pine Group yesterday repaid Fijian Holdings Limited $6.7 million, 16 months after the sum was loaned.
Fijian Holdings Trust Management general manager Sowani Tuidrola received the cheque on behalf of FHL from Fiji Pine Group executive chairman Faiz Khan at the Lololo Pine Station outside Lautoka yesterday.
Mr Khan thanked Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, who was also present, for helping secure the loan when commercial banks had refused funding because of the Fiji Pine Group’s bad credit reputation.
“Historically our group of companies has a record for all the wrong reasons of not paying loans for around 30 years,’’ Mr Khan noted.
He gave an example of the group clearing a loan the past year taken in 1985 from the European Investment Bank.
Mr Khan thanked the Prime Minister for his faith and reaffirmed his belief in the pine industry being able to reach new heights to compete with the country’s strongest business and match their level of returns.
Fijian Holdings Trust Management Limited general manager Sowani Tuidrola, receives a loan repayment cheque from Fiji Pine Group executive chairman, Faiz Khan, during the hand over in Lautoka. Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama congratulates them. The Prime Minister had helped Fiji Pine secure the loan.Photo: WAISEA NASOKIA