Sainiani Boila 
Lands Minister Filimoni Vosarogo
Legislation reviews on land issues are on the coalition government’s agenda.
Lands Minister Filimoni Vosarogo says various laws under the Land Act are archaic and need to be reviewed urgently.
Vosarogo says there is a need to review the various regulations in place to ensure harsher penalties are given to companies or individuals who are found to be in non-compliance when it comes to dealing with the land.
“The penalties are archaic, they’ll be happy to pay penalties, so if they are prosecuted under the Crimes Act for theft then it’s up to the sentence or the court to decide based on the volumetric of what they have removed illegally so I think they are very well informed of the deficiency in the Act and so they rather play the game they want to play knowing that even if they get caught, the penalty will totally be insignificant.”
Vosarogo says according to the Lands Minister, the reviews are long overdue as this will help in the betterment of the Ministry’s service delivery.
The Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources deals with non-compliance almost on a daily basis; therefore, a holistic approach is needed to help address issues from the grassroots level right up to the government.
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