Ministry of Itaukei Affairs Permanent Secretary Pita Tagicakirewa.

Prospective settlements looking to apply to become an iTaukei village must meet all the requirements before approval is given.

Ministry of Itaukei Affairs Permanent Secretary Pita Tagicakirewa says some applications were rejected because their locations were prone to flooding, while others did not seek approval from the relevant landowning units.

“In other words, get the endorsement of the relevant tikina and also the relevant turaga-itaukei or turaga-ni-vanua before they are submitted to the board so we have advised those settlements to fulfill those requirements first before their request can be submitted to the Itaukei Affairs Board.”

He says there are currently 1,217 registered villages in the country.

45 new villages were recently approved as villages under the iTaukei Affairs (iTaukei Affairs Board) (Declaration of iTaukei Settlements as iTaukei Villages) By-Laws 2010.