Press Release Detail

During his travel to the Northern Division this week, Hon. Kalaveti Ravu, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, made a visit to the Tropik Wood Products Limited (TWPL) factory in Wairiki, Bua.
Hon. Ravu met with senior management and staff of the factory on Monday (20.03.23) and held a talanoa session on the operations of the company. He also took a tour of the mill and port facility.
TWPL Wairiki Factory operations manager, Zahid Begg, expressed his gratitude for the Minister's visit on Monday.
"This factory is the life of Bua province. The livelihood of our landowners in Bua and also in Macuata depends on this facility, and that places a huge responsibility on us. For us, every step that we take, we take it carefully having landowner aspirations into consideration," Mr Begg shared.
Despite the facility's challenges over the years, Mr Begg stated that the company would continue to invest in and upgrade it. He expressed their concern about forest sustainability.
In light of this, the factory, which has a capacity to do eight shipments of wood chips per year, has reduced that to only four this year.
Mr Begg also highlighted the company's parent company, Fiji Pine Limited's vigorous replanting efforts and a record planting of 7300 hectares of pine with a survival rate of 90 percent in 2022.
Hon. Ravu stressed that the Government was here to support local business aspirations and stood ready to guide them, including TWPL.
"We are here to encourage you to work harder, give your 100 percent for the betterment of the company, the Government and ultimately, our resource owners and communities that rely on us.
"The land has eyes, the land has ears and it is also watching us closely, so let us work together and put the needs of our people, the resource owners, a priority," Hon. Ravu said.