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iTaukei land ownership intact: PM

April 29, 2022 10:35 am

[Source: Fijian Government/ Facebook]

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama assured that iTaukei land ownership has never been more secure and useful to its owners than it is today.

Speaking at the Cakaudrove Provincial Council meeting yesterday, Bainimarama says ownership has remained fully intact.

He told the Council leaders, district representatives and elders that the government hasn’t taken the iTaukei land away from its owners and they never will.

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“That is your constitutional guarantee, which I am sworn to uphold. No previous constitution had such guarantees. ”

He highlights that under past constitutions and governments, iTaukei land was allowed to be converted and given away forever.

This, he says, can never happen again because Fiji finally has Constitution that makes that impossible.

The Prime Minister also highlighted several issues the government has been able to resolve for landowners.

These include the ‘fair share’ payment of royalties from gravel and other mineral deposits, pine plantation landowners receiving bonuses for the first time, equal distribution of lease monies and the creation of the Committee for Better Utilisation of Land (CBUL) which ensures the provision and renewal of agricultural leases, especially cane leases about to expire.