Landowners & all indigenous stakeholders need to know what is contained in the purported,
"People's Charter for Change & Progress"
in their bid to Build a Better Fiji for All!
It would not be to the advantage of the IIG to keep the grass roots indigenous in the dark about the plans they are about to embark on. I agree 100% with Rev. Tuikilakila Waqairatu on their stand as the 200,00 strong Methodist Church of Fiji and corporately as a group of Christian churches the Assembly of Christian Churches of Fiji.
When it comes to making policies about indigenous land isues, the IIG needs to tread very carefully.
Even though we have become a melting pot of cultures, the land must continue to stay within the hands of the indigenous. It is not the right of any government, no matter how well meaning, to take away or make decisions on land that belongs to the indigenous.
As in the Viti Nikua interview on TV1 last Sunday 17th June, the Rev. Tuikilakila & Rev Sani Matalomani , representing the Methodist Church of Fiji as well as the Assembly of Christian Churches of Fiji have forthrightly expressed and voiced their concerns over the charter and all that the charter intends to do, especially in regards to native lands.
They vehemently upheld the stand that villagers throughout Fiji must not be kept in the dark about the proposals made in the charter concerning the reviewing and reforming of legislations of native lands.
Indigenous land must be kept with the Indigenous. It is their God given right. How and what they decide to do with it should be at their perogative and not the state or other races who feel they have been marginalised.
Indigenous Fijians only desire one thing, that their land will remain their legal inheritance for their future generations. To take away their land is to take away their identity.Already, the state has neutralised the last bastion or protector of Indigenous rights, the Great Council of Chiefs. To instigate a charter without their knowledge is tantamount to deceit and treachery of the highest order.
The indigenous landowners must be given a fair hearing. They should be given freedom to seek legal advice on the effects this charter will have on them. To deny them this right is ungodly
and inhumane.
Below is a section of what this charter proposes to do in respect of the target group (Fijian Indigenous landowners and businesses) that is seen as the major threat to indigenous stability.
A thorough eview of the various Indigenous institutions maybe in order to rid it of corrupt practices, however, the land MUST NOT BE TOUCHED!
Attachment 3 A. of the charter states:
National Task Teams (NTT's) will
"Review the roles of the following institutions and recommend reforms:
Review: To assess, reconsider, survey, re-examine
Reform :To abolish, remove faults or errors, make improvements in the following Indigenous institutions:
- The Great Council of Chiefs
- Native Land Trust Board
- Fijian Affairs Board
- Ministry of Fijian Affairs and Provincial Development
- Provincial Councils
- Business development initiatives such as Yasana Holdings, Vanua Development Corporation, etc.
The recommended institutional changes and reforms emanating from foregoing reviews must enhance contributions of these institutions for indigenous Fijian development for:
- more effective participation by the landowners in Fiji’s mainstream economy and its further growth and development in partnership with other communities.
- strengthen transparency and accountability of the leadership in these institutions.
- modernize and enhance traditional chiefly leadership at all levels so that the GCC leadership is more strongly linked to and also accountable to ordinary Fijians.
- develop leadership among indigenous Fijians that is visionary, progressive, and mindful of the interests of other communities and also the national interest.
- Strengthen dialogue and cooperation between indigenous governance institutions and other communities and stakeholders in the development of land, such as organisations and enterprises needing access to land for development.
- For the various business initiatives such as Yasana Holdings Ltd, Vanua Development Corporation, and others....
It further states that the National Task Team number 5 will be given the role of :
"NTT 5: ACCESS TO LAND AND LAND UTILISATION
• Review ALTA and recommend legislative and institutional arrangements that will enhance constructive dialogue, cooperation as well as better access to and more effective and productive utilization of land for the mutual development of landowners and tenants as stakeholders.
• Identify suitable land for commercial and agricultural development, and mechanisms for facilitating ready access and systems for sharing information on land development strategies.
• Recommend leasing and rent fixing approaches that will be fair and just and enhance security of tenure.
• Recommend measures to provide land for housing and sustenance for displaced families and communities (under section 44 of the Constitution). "
Can we, indigenous Christians of Fiji allow this charter to control our future? This is not right. We must have our say, we must get the best legal minds to advise us concerning it's pitfalls. We must not allow our future genrations to lose out on what rightfully belongs to them. The land must not be taken away from us......at all costs!
