Sir Vijay Singh...

tropicalities

Sir Vijay Singh... uneasy lies the head that drives the Crown

Cars are enormously expensive in Fiji, almost entirely because of the huge duty applied by the government to their sale price.

They are, therefore, extremely desirable A fairly ordinary Japanesebuilt 2-litre family car which, in the US, would cost the equivalent of Fsll,ooo carries a tag in Fiji of $35,000 or more and a company car. despite being counted as part of a man’s income for tax purposes, is a perquisite devoutly to be desired. Also, and perhaps consequently, there is great status in cars. The higher the applicants stand in the business or social pecking order, the greater the price of assuaging their desires, Thus, great interest has attached to a recent drama surrounding the supply of a

suitable carriage to the new chief executive of the Fiji Sugar Cane Growers’ Council, Sir Vijay Singh, ... ...

S, ‘ Vl)a y 15 a notable h 9“ re ,n FIJI - He was P reviousl y an Attor in the Alliance g™ 6 ™ ° f Pn ™ Ml ™ ster Ratu Sir K am,sese Mara, then grossed the floor and joined the Natlonal Party some ago after a row with Ratu last year he opted to depart NFP politics, which, in f n \ F ase ’ ' werebe 9 innin 3 to look le “ tba " ‘° thos< ln search o( ‘he elegant Me, and was . a PP° ln ‘ ed bo “ ’° f Cane Growers Council a ? a f' a iK reported to arou I nd $35,000 per annum, P'us a house and a car.

It is Sir Vijay’s car which has been absorbing the Fiji public’s

Above right: Sir Vijay Singh, the sugar supremo with a transport problem —Fiji Times photo. Above: The elegant source of the problem. - Toyota publicity photo.

fascinated attention, for it appears that rather than one car, there are, in fact, two or perhaps even three, and some confusion reigns about which is to have the honor of carrying Sir Vijay about his business.

The supplier of one has announced himself “highly annoyed” at what he has said was an effort to push through a late cancellation of a sale he considered indubitably made.

The car in question is a Toyota Crown Royal Super Saloon, a splendid vehicle, much-desired by Fiji’s most senior executives as the best on the market The Toyota, which had been ordered for Sir Vijay, carries in the showroom of Automotive Supplies, the Bums Philp-owncd Toyota distributor in Suva, a retail price tag of F 553,000.

But the government had given the Cane Growers’

Council exemption from the duty and, according to the Council, the asking price was $28,000. The directors of the Council agree that they had approved expenditure up to that figure for a car for Sir Vijay.

All seemed well enough until word arrived in the public ear that the Council had ordered a Mazda 929 hardtop saloon for Sir Vijay, plus a lesser Mazda for another executive, for a total of $25,000, thereby appearing to save public and industry money.

But, Automotive Supplies Ltd general manager, Mr Alan Jessop, strenuously disputed the matter, saying the big and luxurious Toyota would have cost only $18,186 duty-free.

On top of that, Mr Jessop said, the cancellation was so late that the car had been shipped from Japan and was now in his showroom with nary a buyer in prospect He was, he said, “highly annoyed” by the whole affair.

“Anybody with any ethics would have cancelled the order for the bigger car and bought two smaller cars from us,” he said.

There is no doubt that there was a firm order for the special Toyota. The Fiji Times obtained a copy of the purchase requisi tion, dated October 25, 1985, which specified: “One Toyota Crown Royal Saloon car with 3.0 litre twin cam, six-cylinder

fuel injected gasoline engine, electronically controlled auto matic transmission, power steering, power brakes, electric moon roof, air conditioning, electric windows, AM/FM elec tronically-tuned radio, 6 speaker cassette stereo, front and rear seat belts, and usual accessories. Color; silver metal lic blue with matching uphol stery.” The price shown on the order is $18,186, duty-free.

Some members of the Cane

Growers Council expressed surprise that the car had been bought because, they said, while their board had budgeted for a car for the chief executive and had agreed to spend up to $28,000 on it, no board deci sion had been taken to place the order.

“My understanding was that the purchase was to have been deferred because cane farmers are going through a very hard time,” said one board member,

quoted by the Fiji Times.

Others said the price quoted by Toyota was extremely good, and that while it might have been deferred a bit for industry political reasons, it was still an excellent deal.

Meantime, the Toyota sits in the showroom while everyone works out what will happen and Sir Vijay is reported to be driving around in an earlier model Toyota Crown which he owned himself.