Sainimili Magimagi 
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka officially returned the ancestral land of Mataqali Nailagobokola of Nausori. Picture: Sainimili Magimagi
An emotional and historic milestone was reached today as the Mataqali Nailagobokola of Nausori officially regained ownership of 17.7 acres of ancestral land sold during the colonial era more than 150 years ago.
The land, formerly held as freehold property and known as the Nausori Golf Course, was officially handed back to its traditional owners at the Nausori Village Hall.
The return of the land was first announced by the Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo, during the Tailevu Provincial Council meeting last year.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka described the occasion as the fulfilment of a promise first made in 1999.
Rabuka thanked the Mataqali Nailagobokola for their contribution to Fiji’s development over the years.
“I take this time, on behalf of the people of Fiji, to thank you for sharing your land with us and contributing to economic growth that has benefited the nation.”
Rabuka today further encouraged the landowners to continue contributing to the nation’s development through the productive use of the land.
According to the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, the first land transaction involving the property was recorded in 1868 during the colonial era. Ownership was later transferred to the Colonial Sugar Refining Company in 1889, before the government acquired the land in 1961 and developed it into the Nausori Golf Course.
The landowners lodged their first formal request for the return of the land in 1988 during the then Rabuka-led government.
