Minister Usamate Tells: Land Bank Misinformation, Landowners Miss Benefits
Land Bank myths perpetrated by a misinformation crusade from some Opposition politicians were debunked again yesterday in Parliament.
In setting the record straight, Minister for Lands Jone Usamate said the misinformation had misled many Fijians to stop depositing their land in the Land Bank. This was a great disservice because the landowners were missing out on the benefits.
Mr Usamate is not the first minister to respond to the misinformation on the Land Bank. His predecessors and even the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, had spoken about it the past.
The bank’s critics keep manufacturing this myth that landowners will surrender or lose their land if they deposit it in Land Bank in what they describe as a land grab. iTaukei communally owned land constitutes 91 per cent of the country’s total land mass. It is administered by the iTaukei Land Trust Board.
These are the facts as outlined by Mr Usamate.
1) The Bank was set up to help utilise idle land for socio-economic purposes 2) Sixty per cent of members of the landowning unit must agree before their land is shifted from the TLTB to the Land Bank.
3) They do not pay any administration fee. At TLTB they pay 25 per cent of their lease income
4) They receive a higher income with Land Bank
5) The lease term can be from five years to 99 years.
6) The landowners reserve the right to get the land back at the expiry of the leases.
7) They can lease their land or engage in a commercial project. One example is the joint collaboration with Tokatoka Vunimasei of Saunaka Village in Nadi.
The Government developed 17 acres of iTaukei land for 77 residential/subsistence subdivision in Legalega, Nadi.
8) iTaukei landowners are often described as asset rich but cash poor. The Land Bank is designed to address the issue. It helps them to develop their land for economic benefits.