Apenisa Waqairadovu 
[Source: Monasavu Dam/File Photo]
The iTaukei Land Trust Board has clarified that landowners of the Monasavu Hydro Dam site cannot claim a share of the dam’s electricity revenue because all rivers and water in Fiji legally belong to the State.
This comes as some landowners, including a man named Masiyaka, demand 40 percent of the annual revenue from the dam.
TLTB says that under the Rivers and Streams Act of 1880, the water used to generate power at Monasavu is owned by the State not the landowners.
The Board explains that the land where the dam sits was bought by the government in 1978, and landowners were fully compensated. In 2000, a final settlement of over $52 million was also paid to settle all grievances.
Since 2006, TLTB has collected over $5.6 million in rental and $5.1 million in water royalties, and also invested funds to benefit landowners in the long term.
TLTB is urging landowners and the public to be cautious about information shared on social media, and to seek the facts directly from their offices.
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