A former Fiji civil servant convicted for his part in a multi-million dollar agriculture scam will now temporarily head the country’s prisoner rehabilitation program he has helped run since being released extramurally a year ago.
Peniasi Kunatuba will act as Director Education, Training and Rehabilitation for three months in place of Assistant Superintendent Salote Panapasa who is attending a three-month course in Hawaii with Deputy Commissioner Prison Auta Moceisuva.
Kunatuba became a free man in July after being released extramurally last July following four years in prison for his part in Fiji’s highly-publicised multi-million dollar agriculture scam involving business figures and the Ministry of Agriculture, of which Kunatuba was then permanent secretary.
Prisons spokesman Fred Elbourne said Commissioner of Prisoners, Brigadier General Ioane Naivalurua, had asked Kunatuba to step into the paying position.
“After coming out extramurally, Kunatuba has been working with Prisons on commercialisation projects under the Yellow Ribbon scheme,” Elbourne told FijiLive.
He has been volunteering since then but this is a paying position.”
Elbourne said Kunatuba wanted to go home at the end of the year when he reaches retirement age so that he can “spend time with his family and do other things”.
