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The Fiji’s government is going ahead with planned land reforms, setting up a committee to be headed by the permanent secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office to carry out the exercise.
The committee will identify all land available for leasing, in particular those currently lying idle, and identify the terms and conditions that would be acceptable to both landowners and tenants including rental amounts, a government statement said.
It will also identify the best legal model or process to be adopted to facilitate this new arrangement, hire consultants including land valuers from the private sector and/or academia and undertake an extensive public relations exercise on the proposed changes.
Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said land reforms are one of government’s major initiatives.
“Land reform, of Native and State title, is essential to make it available for productive use and thereby increasing economic activity, improving livelihoods and growing our GDP,” Bainimarama said.
He emphasised however that as part of his land reform agenda, the existing landownership of State and native titled land would not be altered and that the reform must ensure a fair return to indigenous landowners and security and longevity of tenure to tenants.
