If investors turn up without the right officials, landowners have the right to send them back to the right authorities.
This is the message from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives and SMEs Manoa Kamikamica to landowners after receiving a concern from Ra, where they claimed that a Chinese investor is going directly to the landowners and making investment deals rather than following the process.
District Representative of Naroko in Ra, Setoki Daku says they are concerned that some investors are going straight to the landowners and making deals.
Speaking in the iTaukei language, Daku says they had already chased away one investor and now, another investor keeps pushing the landowners to give the green light to them.
He is asking why the government and the Provincial Council are not handling this issue, as they are supposed to be the first people to meet with investors.
He adds some of the landowners have given the approval, while others have not, and this has created a rift between the people.
Daku says some investors are giving large sums of money to landowners because the investors know they don’t have money.
He is calling on the government and the Provincial Councils to continue to visit the people and conduct awareness sessions on the right way of dealing with investors.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives and SMEs Manoa Kamikamica says if people turn up unauthorised without the right officers from the provincial office, iTaukei Affairs, or iTLTB, landowners have every right to send them away.
He says investors should first go through Investment Fiji and his Ministry, and they will advise investors where to go.
When questioned by fijivillage News about what the government is doing to ensure this is not repeated, Kamikamica says they will contact the investor involved and address the issue.
