Litia Cava 
The Public Accounts Committee has reported that the crown land lease system is obsolete. The system is failing to manage Fiji’s State and Crown leases effectively.
Committee Chair Manoa Kamikamica told Parliament the Ministry of Lands’ system is outdated and inefficient, causing inaccurate records, weak governance and operational delays.
He said the audit, conducted by the Office of the Auditor-General on records from January 2020 to October 2023, found errors in lease interest calculations, data integrity issues and inefficiencies that undermine public confidence.
Kamikica explained the system, originally a DOS platform upgraded to Oracle in 2007, lacks modern functionality and security, making accurate record-keeping and timely decision-making difficult.
He added the audit assessed five key IT domains, the governance, operations, information security, business continuity and application control and concluded that the system no longer meets contemporary standards.
The PAC chair recommended a full system overhaul with a modern integrated platform, stakeholder consultations, staff training and ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance, efficiency and data security.
Kamikamica acknowledged previous committee leadership and Minister for Finance Esrom Immanuel for advancing overdue reports and said Parliament must act to transform the system.
He stated that addressing the deficiencies presents an opportunity to build a reliable, secure and efficient land lease system that supports national development and serves the people of Fiji.
A debate on the report’s content will be scheduled for a future parliamentary sitting.
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