Land Tenure System In Fiji

703 Words3 Pages
Chapter Five: A Case Study of Fiji For the Fijian community, their land is an extension of themselves. It is part of the Fijian soul, and the concept of the "vanua"-the land and the people-lies at the heart of Fijian identity. Land represents life and sustenance, race and culture, and Fijians cling fiercely to their ownership of it.'(Ratu Mosese Volavola) To understand the land tenure system and rural development in Fiji, it is important that one is aware of a brief background of the tenure system in place and the structure of the rural sector in Fiji. 5.1 A review of Fijis Land Tenure System – ITaukei Land Trust Board The land distribution in Fiji shows that 87 percent belongs to the indigenous people, 8 percent is freehold and the remaining…show more content…
For example, the NLA states that "native lands shall be held by native Fijians according to native customs as evidenced by usage and tradition. It also establishes the duty of the Native Lands Commissioner to determine which lands is "the rightful and hereditary property of native owners." The legislation guiding the operation of the ITaukei Land Trust Board is said to be outdated in the sense that the economy has undergone enormous change in terms of land tenure ship requirements, however with the current legislation that disables the sale of native land, disregards the needs of the landowners, and grants the ITLTB the sole authority to deal native lands is said to have contributed immensely to the problems encountered today with land…show more content…
As stated in the ITLT act “The control of all native land shall be vested in the Board and all such land shall be administered by the Board for the benefit of the Fijian owners”– s 4(1) iTaukei Land Trust Act. This clause gives the sole right to ITLTB to administer native land based on the administrative processes that exists, which is said to be outdated, corrupt, non-transparent, ignorant of landowners plights on their wishes for changes and jeopardizes landowners access to a fair share of income from native land lease deal that are usually undertaken without professional advice from experts. By this it is said that lucrative native land deals are usually undertaken in consultation with landowners on the basic benefits however in a more intense negotiations, inexperienced technical personnel are
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