Some of the politicians are using land as a political football before the general election.

These are the comments of the FijiFirst leader Voreqe Bainimarama after he was asked to clarify the Land Use Decree during the party rally in Lautoka.

Bainimarama said one of the main reason to have the Land Bank Decree is to ensure that landowners utilise their land or earn a living out from their land.

He has also opposed critics who said that land owners will have no right over their land if it goes to the Land Bank.

He also said the reason why the current government has come up with rapid growth in development in the country is because there is no racial discrimination.

Bainimarama said this is evident in the 2013 constitution which was translated for other races and also for the blind to read with the brail version of the constitution.

Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Liberal Party said it will repeal the Land Use Decree if they form the next government.

One of the SODELPA campaigners, Adi Litia Qionibaravi has told 80 people in Nabua during the SODELPA rally, that the party believes that the decree violates the landowner’s rights.

According to the decree, sixty percent of the members of a landowning unit have to agree to deposit their i-taukei land under the Land Use Bank system.

The government will consider the views of majority of the members in a landowning unit if they want their land to be deposited and leased.

The land is for the benefit of the landowners and the general public.

According to the Land Use Decree, its objective is to utilise designated native land in a manner that is in the best interest of the native landowners.

The utilisation of land deposited at the Land Bank Unit has managed to attract close to three quarter of a billion dollar’s worth of investment.

This is after 64 landowning groups who deposited their land with the unit had their land successfully rented out to investors which is worth about $730 million.

The Land Use Unit will facilitate the efficient leasing of land which is idle and unutilised under terms and conditions that are attractive to the landowner and tenant.

The lease rental is based on market rates and landowners receive the full amount as there is no administration cost involved.