Land handover

Ro Filipe Tuisawau, Burebasaga

I refer to the article in Friday’s Fiji Sun where PM criticised past governments when handing over land to original landowners under the buyback scheme. The scheme was initiated by SVT before 2006.

He tries to take credit. Good that this land in Taveuni has been reverted. Most of the hard work was done by Yavusa Nasuva. The FFirst has a Land Claims Tribunal in their manifesto similar to SODELPA’s. The SVT & SDL goverments set up the Buy Back Scheme under a 2020 Development Plan which was a blueprint for iTaukei & Rotumans about the return of all land acquired through dubious means by early European settlers.

It was part of the SDL government mandate through its proposed Land Claims Tribunal Bill in 2006.

All PM is doing is copying all what previous governments were doing.

The Opposition in the last term of Parliament had asked the government to set up a Land Claims Tribunal.

If he is serious about return of lands to original owners then he should immediately return all state lands in Suva, including the Botanical Gardens, to the Tui Suva and the Vanua Nadonumai.

He should immediately return all such lands in Fiji including those under Government entities such as FSC, AFL EFL, etc, as the original purpose of public use no longer applies.