Clear land policies urged before Fiji elections

Transcript

The Citizens Constitutional Forum in Fiji is urging politicians to clearly outline their policies on the controversial issue of land before September's election.

The head of the CCF, Reverend Akuila Yabaki, says land has been an underlying issue in Fiji's coups, and many people have expressed concern about the loss of iTaukei control over land set out in the 2013 Constitution.

He told Mary Baines the CCF plans to run a forum, with all political leaders present, to come up with collaborative solutions.

REVEREND AKUILA YABAKI: Since 1987, this has been an issue. 1987, 2000 coups and recent developments seem to indicate that we have not changed. And we're actually calling on political parties to be more positive and to come up with solutions to the land issues and perhaps engage with their supporters. Land politics has hindered Fiji from moving forward. Key players should focus on finding collaborative solutions to the problem rather than politicise the issue. We have done a lot of work, we've organised workshops between land owners, mainly iTaukei or indigenous Fijians and land tenants who are mainly Indo-Fijians, Indians, and we think by engaging them, sitting together in dialogue we can arrive at workable, reasonable solutions. And we've also encouraged engaging with analysts, research, there should be some expert research and analysis on Fiji's land problems so that we can find solutions rather than rhetorics of race and race card and all that.

MARY BAINES: You're calling on the political parties to clearly outline their policies on land. Would you say it's one of the main election issues?

AY: I think election issues should be to do with unemployment and cost of living and I think in some ways they all relate to ownership and utilisation of land as well, there could be more export of produce if land is better used. So all those things could be dealt with in research. Rather than just going by the rhetoric of who owns what it is important to relate that who owns and who uses land, and I think land use is more important in the market oriented economy. We are encouraging politicians to start engaging in dialogue with the landlords and tenants, the TLTB, or the native land trust board, the iTaukei Land Trust Board, there's a land bank. We need some clearly researched proposals so that we can find solutions as the history of land issues in this country is having an effect of instilling fear and creating uncertaintly among land owners and tenants. If politicians are to find solutions, then they have to find solutions to those conflict areas.

MB: Just three months out from the election, do you think this issue of land is being properly discussed by politicians?

AY: They haven't actually started, really. We would like to have a forum where politicians actually sit together from different parties and work out a reasonable way forward.