[Photo: File]

The Social Democratic Liberal Party today made their submission to the Constitution Amendment Bill, proposing to bring all land in Fiji under iTaukei ownership

Representative Jolame Uludole and Savenaca Komaisavai called for Crown land and freehold land to also be recognized as belonging to the Fijian people under the proposed new Constitution.

Parliamentary committee members questioning how freehold ownership could be transferred, particularly where landowners did not want to sell.

Komaisavai argued that freehold land could be bought back.

“It’s easy. They bought it.We can buy it back,”

When asked what would happen if owners refused to sell, he suggested negotiations, while Uludole referred to the Government’s existing compulsory acquisition powers.

However, Committee member Siromi Turaga questioned the legality and practicality of declaring freehold land as belonging to the iTaukei without the consent of its owners.

Turaga said any past dealings involving land that may have been improper could be investigated, but simply declaring freehold properties as iTaukei-owned and buying them back without owners’ consent would be problematic.

Uludole acknowledged the concern but argued that the history of how some land was sold justified the proposal.

“Some was bought with spoons, knives, and all that,”

Committee member Sachida Nand questioned whether reclaiming the remaining land should take priority over making existing iTaukei land more productive.

Nand pointed out that about 88 to 89 per cent of Fiji’s land was already iTaukei-owned, but said only a small portion was being put to productive use.

He argued that land ownership and using land to benefit communities and the wider country were two separate issues.

Uludole maintained that ownership was the greater concern for SODELPA.

“For us Fijians, that’s not important. The important issue, you give us back our land. It’s the ownership that we want,”

Komaisavai claims that 90 per cent of freehold land had been given to white people without the views of iTaukei people being considered.

He further claimed that 99 per cent of native land was leased to Fijians.

The land ownership proposal is among eight constitutional changes raised by SODELPA today.