Issues raised by NFU are incorrect – TLTB

The iTaukei Land Trust Board says the issues raised by the National Farmers Union are incorrect that TLTB is demanding five years rent in advance for lease renewals and charging massive lease premium payments.

In a statement, National Farmers Union General Secretary, Mahendra Chaudhry says Labasa cane growers have expressed deep concern at the unreasonably high charges being levied by the TLTB for lease renewals.

He says TLTB has been demanding five years rent in advance for lease renewals, apart from massive premium payments and such demands are likely to push more growers to leave cane farming.

Chaudhry says rent reviews take place every five years and there is no transparency in how it is determined.

He says in one particular instance, a farmer wanting to renew his lease was told to come up with $11,000 in premium payment and to pay rent in advance for five years. He says at $550 a year, this will mean another $2,750.

Chaudhry adds the farmer is further levied lease processing charges of $1,635 and a documentation charge of $274 which brings his total payment to over $16,000 including VAT.

The NFU’s General Secretary has questioned how will a farmer struggling to survive come up with such a huge payment all at once. He says this is not an isolated case and there are a lot more similar cases.

When contacted, the iTaukei Land Trust Board says they are doing their job as mandated by law. It says the issues raised by NFU are both incorrect and may be founded on hearsay.

The TLTB says for the five years advance rent, this is just an option that the incoming tenants can choose and will therefore be included as part of the offer if they wish.

It says if the farmers want to be charged annual rent then they can also apply.

The TLTB adds payment of advance rent was TLTB’s strategic measure to avoid rental arrears during the first five years of the lease.

The TLTB further says for sugar cane farm land, TLTB is charging new lease consideration only once, using the 2011 ALTA Schedule of Values with a discount of 35% taking into consideration the natural fertility of land and the need to support the sugar industry.

It says they are not charging any mark-ups whatsoever on the New Lease Consideration.

It further says their values are based on factors like the size of the land, location and land classification and farmers also have the option if they want to reduce the size of the land where tenants will only have to pay less than the initially charged price.

The TLTB says individual tenants as well as the Union are encouraged to contact them directly with specific cases.