Minister for Lands, Ashneel Sudhakar has said in Parliament today that SODELPA MP, Niko Nawaikula recently had stopped a landowning unit from Kokomo in Kadavu from depositing a piece of their land in the Land Bank, while Nawaikula has come out and said to Legend FM News that he will advise any landowning unit that come to him that they should not give their land to the Land Bank.
While delivering his ministerial speech on the Land Bank, Sudhakar says all the ground work was done and claimed that Nawaikula went and instigated the landowners to withdraw.
Sudhakar says they respected the choice of the landowners as 69 percent of the landowners wanted their land to be returned to them.
He says that the landowners are now in a limbo.
He says the landowners need to know that the State is not stealing their land.
Sudhakar also said that Nawaikula should apologize to civil servants for saying that the Open Merit Recruitment System is used to eliminate iTaukei staff from the ministries.
He adds the Open Merit Recruitment System is designed to get the best candidate.
When questioned by Legend FM News, Nawaikula says to him when the legislation came into place, the landowners were not consulted on the Land Bank.
Nawaikula also says that he will not apologize for the comments he made about the Open Merit Recruitment System.
