"Previous governments did not pay him for his accumulated leave and therefore it was only right for us to do so."
Those were the words of interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry who confirmed that they had to clear Army Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama's leave owed by the RFMF since 1978 since it would have cost them more if they deferred it any longer.
Chaudhry also said that a lot had been said but the blame lies with previous governments.
The leave payout totaled about $184,000. Although Chaudhry refused to comment further, he maintained that Commodore Bainimarama is entitled to the leave payout as a military officer and the figure had grown to that amount due to non-payment for years.
Leave Payment Had To Be Done
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