Apenisa Waqairadovu 
[Fiji Government/ Facebook]
The people of Munia on Avea Island in Vanuabalavu have regained ownership of their ancestral land after almost 200 years.
The 11,000-hectare property was sold in the 1800s and later bought by the Government in 1983 for $450,000 under a land buy-back arrangement.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka officially handed the land back to its traditional owners, marking the completion of a long journey to restore ownership.
Rabuka says the process is part of efforts to restore lands that were transferred away from their original owners.
“Those are two classes of land that we have been dealing with in our attempt as a government to return and restore to the original landowners. It started after 1987 when sovereign authority was moved from Her Majesty the Queen to the hands of the people of Fiji and their governments.”
Rabuka says after Fiji gained greater control over its own affairs, the Government was able to determine the future ownership of lands without seeking approval from the Crown.
He says this allowed the process of returning some lands to their traditional owners to move forward.
“It made it possible for us to determine the future of ownership of land within the sovereign government of Fiji rather than going back all the way to the Crown to authorize the change. So you understand what we’re talking about today. That’s how it happened. That’s how it changed.”
The Prime Minister says the restoration of Avea Island is part of a wider commitment to address historical land ownership issues.
The people of Munia had also raised funds to purchase the land back from Government under the buy-back scheme, securing ownership for future generations.
