Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has announced that the government will make the first repayment on behalf of the iTaukei landowners who have taken a loan from FDB to set up the Natogadravu Subdivision in Nuku, Tailevu.
While speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Bainimarama said that the government is proud of the landowners because they have put in a lot of work to make the project happen and they have shown real leadership in driving development for their community.
The Prime Minister says he believes their hard work deserves recognition.
That is why he announced that the government will pay on their behalf the first repayment of $437,400 of the total $727,290 loan they have borrowed from the FDB to finance the project.
Bainimarama says he knows this payment is outstanding and the landowners are in default.
He says that the government will be paying off the repayment out of the iTaukei Land Development allocation in the 2017‑2018 National Budget – an allocation that they have set aside to assist iTaukei landowners to develop their own land and keep the benefits directly themselves.
Bainimarama says by pursuing this development, the landowners are not only empowering their own community, they are giving many more people the chance to benefit as well.
He says the landowners are opening up their land, and realising its full potential – paving the way for new development and new opportunities for Fiji and fellow Fijians.
The Prime Minister says opening the land up to development will allow for the construction of new homes and help address issues of overcrowding that we are already seeing in squatter settlements and give more options to everyone in our housing market – to their benefit and the benefit of the Fijian people who may one day lease the land and call it home.
He stresses that the land and rights of the iTaukei are protected and enshrined for all time in the Fijian Constitution – the supreme law of the land that governs every action of the Government.
Bainimarama says there has never been a better time to develop iTaukei land and resources to experience the full benefits of our growing economy.
He also says that the landowners have shown that they are not here to waste time listening to politicians telling them what to fear and what to do.
Bainimarama says the landowners are here to be practical, to do well by themselves and their children.
