Reorganising ways
ON Saturday, April 2, 1976 reported that proposals for the reorganisation of the Fijian administration and the agriculture landlord and tenants committee were major items for discussion by the council of chiefs.
The article stated the meeting in Suva was to be presided by the secretary for “Fijian affairs”, Ratu Penaia Ganilau.
Those expected at the meeting included roko of the 14 provinces, six chiefs appointed by the governor, two representatives of each province with a population of over 10,000 and one representative of each province with a population below that number, elected by the respective of the provincial councils.
A Fijian magistrate, a school teacher, a medical officer and four persons representing workers in industrial areas, who had been nominated by the secretary for “Fijian affairs”, as well as other invited persons were part of the meeting.
Members of the council were expected to be formally informed of the outcome of the London constitutional conference and would be supplied with copies of the white paper.
Twelve discussion papers and items of draft legislation setting out the detailed recommendations for the implementation of the proposals by the 1965 meeting of the council for the re-organisation of the Fijian administration, were up for debate.
Members were also going to consider a discussion paper and draft legislation on the 1961 agricultural landlord and tenants committee.
An application for a loan towards the cost of a new school building by the Draiba Fijian School committee was also to be considered.
The task of tackling an agenda of this size and importance has, it was hoped, been eased by four regional meetings where Ratu Penania explained the discussion papers and draft legislation and invited preliminary views and criticism. Each meeting lasted two days. The last of the four meetings had ended on a weekend, when members from Lau, Lomaiviti and Kadavu discussed the recommendations.
This was probably the most difficult meeting to convene, because of the necessity to co-ordinate the transport of members.
The meeting generally endorsed the recommendations.
The members came from provinces, where sailing about in small boats was part of everyday life, and from which many landowners had left to seek employment in urban and industrial centres or to plant on land in Viti Levu.
Because of this, discussions centred mainly round the proposed legislation to regulate small boats sailing beyond the protection of reefs and the question of whether landowners living beyond the boundaries of their provinces should be represented.