Transcript
Fiji's deputy prime minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has dismissed the Fiji Landowners Association saying their travel warning is outrageous.
"It is important to highlight that this so-called association is not a legally registered entity in Fiji and comprises of a few expatriate owners of residential freehold land in Fiji."
But the Association's Dave Rand says the group doesn't have to register with Mr Sayed-Khaiyum to count. He says there are 5000 foreign landowners in Fiji and the association is taking up their concerns.
"We've received hundreds of emails. I get correspondences almost every five minutes now from people so we're growing quickly. I've hired a librarian and also a web designer so that we can continue to move forward. You know it's the year 2016, almost 2017. Groups no longer register with the governments in the free world."
In a speech at the weekend Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said changes to the land sale laws were brought in two years ago in response to concern about what he calls a land grab by foreigners.
"Non residents have only been interested in acquiring freehold land for residential purposes and leaving it undeveloped for decades with no interest shown in leasing iTaukei land or developing iTaukei land."
Foreigners who have bought land in Fiji face stiff penalties if they don't build a dwelling on their land within two years of purchase. The two year old Land Sale Act amendments also apply to those who bought land before 2014 and the deadline for development is looming.
"The amendments to the Act are designed to ensure that non residents do not simply purchase state land or free land without undertaking any development and without making any contribution to the Fijian economy."
The landowners say a firesale is underway as foreign landowners try to divest their holdings before the penalties kick in. Dave Rand says the requirement to build a home which must be constructed to the value of at least $120,000 is unaffordable for many who've just come to retire. Not to mention the difficulties imposed by Cyclone Winston. But Mr Sayed-Khaiyum says landowners who can't meet the deadline can apply to a committee for an extension.
"They may or may not be able to build. There may be financial issues. There may be construction issues. There may be access to hardware issues and therefore these amendments have been made to allow them to seek reprieve and therefore they can continue with construction at a later date."
But Mr Rand is sceptical about the review process which he says only came in recently.
"There's a matter of trust that's been severely broken. For two years, we tried contacting, as did other landowners our members and otherwise included with no response. I mean it all fell on deaf ears. It was only eight weeks ago or so when we began our fundraiser for the first press release that magically Fiji's now going to listen to us.
Dave Rand says his association will push ahead with its campaign.
