Since his retirement in 2009, head of Navusabalavu landowning unit in Tavua, Manasa Naiceru, always dreamt of owning an income-generating subdivision that would secure his generation’s future.

But he didn’t know how to do it.

Mr Naiceru knew there was a lot of potential in the 12-acre land that they owned. And while he and his fellow mataqali knew they had the resource, they did not know how capitalise on it.

Until he was introduced to iTaukei Land Development Grant and a meeting with the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

Under the grant, the landowning unit was given $2.7 million to subdivide the land that can be used for commercial gain.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Mr Sayed-Khaiyum with Government officials and guests witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony of the Tubalevu Subdivision in Yasiyasi, Tavua.

Mr Naiceru, a retired teacher, father of six children and 14 grandchildren said he has big plans for this subdivision.

“For the civic lot area there will be a hall and a space for sports but the commercial lots will accommodate a supermarket and service station,” he said.

“There are 300 members in the Mataqali Navusabalavu and we own over 7000 acres of land from Tavua town, past Vatia point then stretching to Tagitagi and back over to Vatukoula.

“Five years ago I paid a contractor to clean this area and as I saw how much money I was spending.

“I thought I’d get nowhere with this but then I saw the Government grant so I applied and I wrote directly to  Mr Bainimarama.

“I had to wait and had to go through all the big offices and almost gave up until the A-G  told me my letter was approved.

“It took three years and even though I wanted to pull out my heart was telling me to come back then the A-G told me that if I pulled out I would pay more for the contractor but with the grant, I would pay nothing  so I decided to stay.

“It was like big relief for me and I was emotional when I saw the diggers clearing the land, I thanked God that finally, this was happening.”

The will be contracted out to BW Holdings with 34 residential lots, three commercial lots and one civic lot.

Mr Bainimarama said: “Every day we spend developing the land, we employ hard-working people, including many from the local communities. And every project we complete adds to the strength of our economy. And that benefits everyone.”

He commended Mr Naiceru for taking the initiative to work hand in hand with the national leadership.

“As we’ve shown at the nine other sites throughout the country, this groundbreaking is a promise of greatness to come. This simple ceremony stands for partnership, vision, investment and innovation,” he said.

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