Energizing Fiji for 50 Years -Golden Jubilee Celebration @ The Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva Fiji

2. "Electrifyingcommunities,
bringingopportunitiesinto
thelivesofFijiansfrom
everywalkoflifeandfrom
everycornerofthe
country"
Honourable Cabinet Ministers, your
excellencies, members of the diplomatic
corps, the chairman and board members
of FEA, distinguished guests, ladies and
gentlemen, bula vinaka and a very good
evening to you all. I am very happy to be
here this evening as we celebrate a half
century of service from our national
electricity provider, the Fiji Electricity
Authority. An organisation that thousands
of Fijians rely upon to keep the lights on,
but more than that, it is an organisation
that – every day – brings warmth, security
and peace of mind into the lives of our
people.
Below is the full speech of the Prime
Minister at the Fiji Electricity Authority
golden jubilee celebrations at the Grand
Pacific Hotel in Suva on Friday night.
Over the last 50 years, the FEA has
provided services foundational to our
development as a nation. At times, it has
been a rocky road. But the past ten years,
with the support of my Government,
have shown that the FEA is more than
capable of paving the way for Fiji’s
success and achievement.
Access to electric power has truly
been the beacon that has led Fiji
into the future. It has kept our
society running long after the sun
has set. It has lit up our homes and
our businesses, and kept us
productive as we work side-by-side
to steadily transform Fiji into the
modern nation state we are well on
our way to becoming. The
importance of the FEA can be seen
in the work and lives of ordinary
Fijians all across the nation. From
the shops and businesses who use
FEA power to keep running instead
of having to close at the end of the
day, to the students who can keep
studying into the night instead of
shutting their books at sunset, and
to the hard-working Fijians who,
after a long day of work, can return
to the comfort and security of a
well-lit community.
These are the real experiences;
these are the real stories made
possible by the good work of the
FEA. You’ve brought Fiji that
service with professionalism and
a routine commitment to safety,
quality and affordability for our
people. And tonight, we can look
back on that legacy, take stock of
how far we have come and look
forward to many more years of
excellence in service. Five decades
ago, when the FEA was first set-up
— consolidating all of the
electricity suppliers, both private
and municipal, Fiji was a vastly
different place. Back then, the FEA
ran a much more modest operation
with FEA staff travelling on foot or by
push bike to service customer
meters. Fiji had much ground to
make up to keep pace with nations
that had been enjoying the immense
benefits of reliable electricity for
decades. It was an immense
challenge, one that required
innovative thinking and bold action
at every turn to address. But 50 years
on, the FEA can be proud to say they
met that challenge head-on,
and they continue to shoulder an
enormous responsibility to
maintaining the well-being of Fiji and
her people.
"Today, the
FEA serves
nearly
175,000
customers."
They oversee the supply of 934
Gigawatt Hours of power all across
Fiji, and are every year expanding
the reach of their services,
electrifying communities, bringing
opportunity into the lives of Fijians
from every walk of life and from
every corner of the country. My
Government is realising our bold
vision to bring Fiji fully into the 21st
century. Integral to that has been
our work delivering infrastructure
projects to empower our people.
Since 2007, an average of $77
million a year has been directed
toward capital projects through the
FEA.

3. And the FEA has surpassed expectations
in keeping pace with my Government’s
efforts to extend access to electricity
throughout our islands. Those projects
are serving Fijians in rural and urban
areas alike, and thousands of our people
are benefiting as a result.
I am particularly proud of the rural
electrification projects driven by the FEA
– with 50 new projects funded over the
past decade. These projects are up and
running in areas of the country where
reliable power had for many, been an
elusive dream. But now, they are
enjoying access to services that matches
what we have in our urban centres. So
the FEA is doing exceptionally well, but
we can’t allow that success to limit our
ambition for what is possible – for all FEA
has yet to achieve. It was careful
planning and unwavering commitment
that carried the FEA to success over
the last 50 years, and that spirit of
dedication must continue to lead you
all into the future. That same mantra
is also driving my Government’s
planned divestment of shares in the
FEA, which will go a long way in
keeping the Authority competitive
and capable of shouldering Fiji’s
energy needs in the years to come.
"There is a laundry list of
benefits to the
divestment and the
accompanying
set-up of an independent
regulatory agency for
our energy sector."
– partnerships that can help reduce
our vulnerability to shifting energy
prices by boosting renewable energy
sources in Fiji. Government will still
be FEA’s majority shareholder and
the support we provide to low-
income earners will continue, but the
divestment will put the FEA in a
stronger position to fund capital
works and maintain the impressive
infrastructure network we have in
place today. So the benefits are
immense and the planned
divestment is a timely step for the
FEA. Rather than play catch up later
on, my Government is taking
immediate action to strengthen the
FEA’s position now so we can
prepare to meet the future energy
needs of our people. So that your
leadership and staff can continue
with your indispensable work to our
nation’s advancement. Here’s to the
next 50 years of excellence and
professionalism from the FEA. Your
success is Fiji’s success, and we’re
very proud of everything you’ve
achieved. So keep up the good work
and I wish you a pleasant evening.
Thank you – Vinaka vakalevu.
It will mean greater private sector
engagement that will attract
partnerships rather than capital alone

4. Mr Patel thanked everybody who
came for the event and said the
company had come a long way with a
vision for Fiji. Mr Patel said the goal
was to be 100 percent renewable by
2030.
“We have a plan to get there,
to able to fight climate change
to the best of their ability,”
Mr Patel said.
Guests were treated to
entertainment by the VOU
dance group and a video
showing the journey that FEA
had made for the past 50 years.
VOUDANCE GROUP