Hao project delay worries Tahiti government

8:46 pm on 5 March 2019

The French Polynesian government is getting impatient with the Chinese company Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods over its delay in setting up a fish farm on Hao atoll.

Fish farm project launched in Hao, French Polynesia

Fish farm project launched in Hao, French Polynesia Photo: supplied

The vice president Teva Rohfritsch says the government has done its part by clearing the area near the atoll's runway for the $US320 million project.

He told the public broadcaster it was now time to get things going.

Last week, President Edouard Fritch said he was worried but still optimistic that the project would be realised.

But he said for ten months things had stalled.

In January, it was reported that modifications of the plans would delay work until September.

In 2015, when the company first sought approval for the project, people were told that once finished, it should be able to employ about 10,000 people.

The project has been downgraded since but is still expected to create hundreds of jobs.

Last April, the government granted Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods a 30-year tax holiday on the importation of materials and fuel.

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