The rise in occupancy of squatter settlements and landlords are a direct result of the lack of political will and intervention by policymakers.

This is according to Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) executive director, Vani Catanasiga as it notes a continuous increase in squatter housing and of people making money by renting out homes to those in need of cheaper options.

In 2017, 120,494 people were living in informal settlements according to the Bureau of Statistics.

Earlier this year Public Rental Board (PRB) general manager Timoci Naleba said people living in squatter settlements could have increased threefold in the past six years, placing more than 360,000 Fijians in squatter settlements across the country,

Ms Catanasiga said its District Community of Social Services (DCOSS) members on the ground acknowledged that renting of homes in squatter settlements has increasingly become a common practice.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Siromi Turaga said they noted that some people living in squatter settlements were well-off, had decent jobs and cars parked outside their homes.

He warned those who were renting their homes in squatter settlements were on Government’s radar.

“You just travel on the main road from Four Miles (Nasinu), all those squatters. These people are living the life, they have cars and have good jobs,” Mr Turaga said.

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