Chiefs give thumbs up to review

The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) yesterday endorsed the review of the iTaukei Land and Fisheries Commission (TLC) (Veitarogi Vanua), after 119 years.

The review is estimated to cost about $5 million. GCC chair Ratu Viliame Seruvakula said there were a lot of loopholes because of the archaic laws stipulated in the Native Lands Act of 1905.

Rt Viliame said there were 14 recommendations put forwward by the review team for the chiefs to decide on.

"The only area that is a bit troublesome for the chiefs is the Vola ni Kawabula (VKB)," he said.

Ratu Viliame said before, the mataqali (clan) would agree for an individual to be registered in the VKB, but that's changed in the past decade, which had allowed for any individual to be registered by presenting their birth certificate.

Because of this, the TLC has noted disagreements between landowners and their vasu (those with maternal birthrights), who are also registered in the VKB.

The chiefs have noted that in some cases there are more vasu than landowners.

"The vasu are making the decisions on the land and that has caused some discord," Ratu Viliame said.

Head of the TLC, Apimeleki Tola, said the review intended to mend the differences by outlining a demarcation between the landowners and their vasu.

Mr Tola said the dynamics of the iTaukei community had tremendously changed over the years, and the law must be changed to accommodate the TLC in this modern day.

"Today; you have the Fijian diaspora scattered overseas, but most of them need to be registered in the VKB. The boundaries of the iTaukei land need to be redefine and land parcels need to be surveyed. We need to digitise the records that we have," Mr Tola said.

"We have issues for the I qoliqoli (marine resources). Before, there used to be many Fijians in rural communities, now many of them are in urban centres, most in squatter settlements, so the review is long overdue."

Mr Tola said a plan was in the pipeline to decentralise the Veitarogi Vanua so that the iTaukei would have access to information concerning them.

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