Land utilisation and entrepreneurship vital for iTaukei economic growth - Prof. Steven Ratuva

It is important now to begin to look at how the iTaukei can engage in entrepreneurship apart from other ethnic groups as a cause of their source of socio-economic conditions and see how land can be utilised.

This has been highlighted by the Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific, Professor Steven Ratuva who was asked by fijivillage News on what are his comments regarding the iTaukei owning 5 percent of businesses in Fiji and owning 92 percent of iTaukei land.

Professor Ratuva says some of the policies we had led to iTaukei walking away from their villages.

He says this would have contributed to the socio-economic drawbacks that they are facing which would have been dissatisfaction over the years and which built up grievances among the iTaukei.

He says the iTaukei realise from the 1987 and 2000 coups that the socio-economic circumstances were not advanced together and he believes it is one of the learnings from the past.

He adds the iTaukei Trust Board can be a vehicle for socio-economic development rather than just holding on to the land and leasing land to others.