Senior Officials of the Native Lands Trust Board are tightlipped on whether the Board was consulted by the NCBBF before drafting pillar six of the People's Charter which recommends increased access to land for productivity and social purposes.
When contacted earlier today, General Manager Meli Benuci said they are not aware of what the draft contains and they are yet to see the draft Charter. He refused to comment further.
NLTB Spokesperson Nimilote Naivalumaira said it is important that the Board studies the draft in a wholesome and holistic way to consider all interrelated issues which have policy implications for the NLTB. The Board is expected to sit to look at the recommendations before a formal statement is released.
Meanwhile, the Tui Macuata is optimistic that the path mapped out in the Draft People's Charter on making land more accessible to the people of Fiji will solve the longstanding land problems we have faced for decades.
Ratu Aisea Katonivere said land lying idle does no good for anyone, and anything that can improve the lives of his people will not be opposed.
However, the Viti Land and Resource Owners Association General Secretary Ratu Osea Gavidi said all the 5000 landowning units in the country must be consulted before the interim government, the NCBBF or the NLTB discusses anything further on access to land in the country.
The Sugar Cane Growers Association has welcomed the proposal and is optimistic that the landowners in the sugar belt will agree to the making more land accessible.
The Draft Charter highlights that key measures and actions must be taken with due priority and urgency to create a market for leased land, through sustainable lease arrangements, to improve accessibility to all users.
It proposes to make land available for housing as well as infrastructure, formalise "vakavanua" or informal settlement on all types of land, ensure security of tenure and equitable returns to both landlords and tenants, establish a Land Use Advisory Board including a National Land Register and a Land Use Development Plan.
The draft further proposes to empower indigenous landowneres rights to effectively spearhead individual indigenous landowners participation in commerce and entrepreneurship.
NLTB Tightlipped
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