Not one blogger has challenged the fact of the complete control of Native land given to Bainimarama by the Land Use Decree. All they can say is that it’s needed to get idle land into use.
Bloggers trot out the tired racist line that land is idle because landowners are lazy parasites who have to be forced to allow their land to be used by others. This is not simply racist, it is incredibly ignorant and stupid. If landowners were lazy parasites they would be willing to lease their land.
The reason that so much land is idle is the very low rents provided under the effects of ALTA (the Agricultural Landlords and Tenants Act). Professor John Davies, a Canadian economist provided figures showing how low the rents received were by any measure. As a share of the proceeds of cane growing they were a tiny 2.4%. He compared this with more than 10% in Australia, close to 20% in the USA and almost 50% in India.
Davies was attacked for this. He was even accused of racism. But he is not alone in stating categorically that agricultural rents in Fiji have been too low. In 2012 a New Zealand lawyer said
“The general consensus is that ALTA rents are inadequately low, as evidenced by the fact very few LOUs renewed ALTA leases as they began to expire in the early 2000s. The result has been the dislocation and emigration of entire communities of Indian cane farmers. Instead of undertaking desperately needed reforms, the present government has introduced the stopgap measure of topping up rents from the average of 5% of UCV paid by lessees to 10% until 2015 in order to encourage LOUs to renew ALTA sugar cane leases.”
Anyone interested in facts can check it out on the University of Otago website.
http://www.otago.ac.nz/law/research/journals/otago041735.pdf
Bainimarama’s use of a Government subsidy to lift lease payments for five years between 2010 to 2015 proves that he knows rents have been too low. It also shows he thinks landowners can be tricked by being given a bit of money upfront to sign away their lands for 30 years. What this means is 25 years of landowners giving their land away cheap.
One thing needs to be clear. There is no reason to believe that Bainimarama is interested in helping small cane farmers. He’s saving his favours for friends who know how to treat him – Chinese agro-industry cassava growers. Anyone else, iTaukei or Indo-Fijian, will get the crumbs off the table and they’ll be expected to be grateful. That’s all the equality they’ll get.
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I have a simple arguement that if the farmers/tenants make hugh profits out of land held in custody by fijian lanowners, then why dont the lazy landowners cultivate the land themselves, sweat their guts out and become rich people.
Why lease it out to indian farmers and get so little return as claimed by this writer?
Why are fijian landowners sending their young kids (girls) on streets of major towns/cities in Fiji to earn money from prostitution so that they can provide food to the family?
If in doubt about my claim regarding kids, please check it out with the police, Womans crisis center, FWRM, and some christian churches.
Father Barr will vouch for this.
Danny Crane you bloody bulshit arsehole.
Any substantial increase in land rent which would mean that farmers will have to live beyond their means would result in mass movement out of sugar cane farming in Fiji. This would result in returning the leases to the TLTB and thanking the landowners for the lease.
The price of everyday sugar cane materials like fertiliser, chemicals- weedicides, cane cutters costs, lorry cartage of sugar cane etc and basic food item are continuously rising without any substantial increase in the price of sugar cane.
In fact if the sugar subsidy offered by the EU comes to an end in 2015, the price of sugar cane will fall substantially.
Can the farmers afford to continue sugar cane farming?
So Navosavakadua can stop harping about increase in lease rents and start dreaming about a return of native leases to the landowners just like the many farmers who have refused to go back to sugar farming, after their leases were reserved.
We need some intelligent non racists fijians to start thinking about the future of land leases and how to tackle the decline in sugar cane prices and what effect it would have on native land leases.
If there was no subsidy to the sugar cane farmers by the government now on the lease there would be more leases returned to the native landowners.
I do not wish to elaborate or even dare to think about on the “weeds” growing on those returned land to the landowners.
Let the Fijian landowner try once again sugar cane farming and prove to the whole world that they are no more lazy bums, drinking grog all night and relying on government handouts and living off farmer’s lease money to survive.
I am so sure that the indigenous fijians will prove their worth.
And perhaps Navosavakadua should start with some farming tips in this blog, to help out the lazy indigenous landowners of Fiji and teach them to work hard for their living.
Look guys the land use decree is very clear on the issues. Me, your benevolent leader and PM will have the authority to decide if it is in the interest of the economy to take land away from indolent landowners and give 99 year lease to the Chinese. How do I find out what is good for the economy some of the uneducated amongst you may ask? Just to keep it simple, I would always consult with Khaiyum’s aunty Nur Bano who is a world class expert in economics. She would tell me how much kick backs the Chinese are willing to pay and I would than – very accountable and totally transparently – make my decision. What could be possibly wrong with this?
Budhau Says:
Navosavakadua – I will go through the crap that you posted in yur last post and try and identify the several issue that raised. I will limit the scope of this discussion to those specific issues.
ISSUE 1 – Do you seriously believe that Evanson is not aware of the land laws in Fiji and somehow believes that his beaches are “private”. That is what idiots like you and those others at RFN have been implying.
As I told you before, the laws relating to the beaches is based on the English common law. You seem to agree with that. So you and I seem to know that there are no “private” beaches in Fiji and you seem to suggest that this Evason guys, who has some top lawyers on his board of directors, he somehow believes that we have “private” beaches in Fiji.
It is OK for the idiots in here to ridicule Evason, but you seem to be a intelligent guy – do you honestly believe that Evason mistakenly believes that his beaches are “private” – so cut out that crap. The laws are very simple – State land runs from high water mark out.
BTW – trying to impress us with quoting the various sections of the Statute – very impressive. However, I had already given you the common law basis for our statutory laws.
ISSUE 2 – You wrote, “Informal recognition of Fijian traditions has long been practiced, even when not written in law, in relation to qoliqoli and in other matters. It’s obvious that you know little and care less about these customs, but there are many others that do, including the Indo-Fijian neighbours of many Fijian villages.”
You are WRONG – there are written laws (statutes) that address the Qoliqoli. I will ignore the rest of crap about me not being sensitive to the Fijians customs and those other crap that you posted.
Here is where we have “formal” recognition as opposed to what you claimed as “informal recognition.” – and it is in writing
Fisheries Act section 13.
13. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Rivers and Streams Act, it shall be an offence for any person to take fish on any reef or on any kai (cockle) or other shellfish bed in any area in respect of which the rights of any mataqali or other division or subdivision of the Fijian people have been registered by the Native Fisheries Commission in the Register of Native Customary Fishing Rights unless he shall be a member of such mataqali, division or subdivision of the Fijian people who does not require a licence under section 5 to take such fish or shall first have obtained a permit to do so from the Commissioner of the Division in which such area is situated:
(Cap 136)
Provided that-
(a) such permits shall not be necessary in the case of persons taking fish (other than by way of trade or business or as the employee of a person carrying on the trade or business of a fisherman) with hook and line or with a spear or portable fish trap which can be handled by one person; and
(b) any such permit may exclude fishing for particular species of fish, or may exclude fishing in any particular areas, or may exclude fishing by any particular methods, or may contain any combination of such exclusions.
(2) The grant of a permit shall be in the discretion of such Commissioner who shall consult the Fisheries Officer and the subdivision of the Fijian people whose fishing rights may be affected thereby, prior to granting the same.
(3) A permit may be granted for any period not exceeding three years, but every such permit shall expire on the 31st day of December in any one of such years.
(Section substituted by 26 of 1964. s.6.)
ISSUE 3: You wrote, “I know Qoliqoli is dear to your heart because your Lord and Master, the now silent MPC, used it to great effect to stir up race-based fears, but you don’t seem to understand that Frank’s aim is to hold on to power and he’ll dish out Qoliqoli rights if it suits him.”
So let us look at Mahendra Chaudary’s record on Qoliqoli.
At the GCC meeting in 1982 at Bau, there was a discussion of they discussed the Qoliqoli – and the Chiefs decided to approach the government for a legislation addressing the Qoliqoli issue. The government of the day did shit.
In late 1999 the FLP Cabinet approved the proposal to give legislative effect to the decision of the GCC at Bau in 1982. And if Speight and Company had not couped Chaudary for the “indigenous rights” crap, we would have had this QoliQoli legislation a long time ago.
So don’t give me this crap that Chaudary was using this Qoliqoli issue to stir up race based fears. Idiots like you should ask what happened to Qoliqoli bill under the successive Fijian government from 1982 to 2006.
SUMMARY:
1) it is silly to ridicule Evason that he believes that there are private beaches in Fiji.
2) There was statutes that recognize the Qoliqoli.
3) Chaudhary did not use Qoliqoli to stir up racial shit – on the contrary the FLP cabinet in 1999 and agree to give legislative effect to what was decidd by the GCC in 1982 at their meeting at Bau.
How can guys keep shoveling these lies and shit in these forum – and ther are many in Fiji who buy into this crap.
BTW – if you chose to respond to this – please keep your discussion focused on the issues.
So you see Navosavakasona you just a fricken idiot.
Is this guy Navosavakadua for real ? Rents are low on the land in Fiji because the returns from the use when leased is also low. Increase the lease rental and the price of what you buy in the shops increases and you will be the first to moan.
Lease rental in other countries is often higher because the land users invest and mechanise to get the best quality and most quantity hence profit so they can afford higher leases.
Fiji is way behind with mechanisation of farming but it will come. Unfortunately, when it does come less land will be required and less land owning units will benefit from lease money. So most of the land will remain like gold, great to look at but useless at providing a living for the owner.
@navosavakadua
Still flogging the dead horse ie the land bogey ??. Everyone now knows thats its a non-issue.
You are off the gravy train boy. Go , get a real job now.
PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE THE FIJIAN LAND ISSUE WITH WESTERN THINKING – FORGETTING THE STRONG CULTURAL AND TRADITIONAL ISSUES THAT HAVE PREVENTED MANY SUCCESSFUL FIJIAN ENTREPRENEURS FROM REMAINING IN FIJI. THEY FIND IT EASIER TO LEAVE THAN HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS THAT HINDER GOOD BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND SUCCESS ARISING FROM THEIR COMMUNITIES AND FAMILIES AND THE MATAGALI. THIS IS NO SIMPLE ISSUE. IT REQUIRES A DEDICATED AND FOCUSED CULTURE AND MINDSET CHANGE – ONE VILLAGE AT A TIME!
land for indigenous people is not a commodity. its our way of life and being. we dont sell and trade land like ur motor cars.
u racists who say fijians are lazy are the racists. u wont like it if the fijians say indians are crooks and liars would u.
the point that the danny baiyass and akissasses bainis miss or refuse to accept is that these islands belong to the fijians and if they wish to leave their islands as they are who are u camels to dictate to them.
u dont like it here go somewhere else.
other fijians go overseas not because they are fed up of their chiefs etc, but because they want a different lifestyle so dont turn fijian against fijian. thats a bullshit argument. he does not desert his land or his culture.
And smart ass Nacaga, the current laws do not deal with qoliqoli as proposed by Qarase which was to reverse the old English common law with regards to free movement in the territorial waters.
And with regards to private beaches issue, u know very well, maybe u live at suva point so u dont know, that the reality is the hotels do not freely allow people to walk on the beaches in front of their hotels at low tide. the law does not allow it but these europeans dont follow it. send their fijian bociguards to stop fijians fishing an walking in their own lands. Pac harbour curry beach is a case on point. the government had to step in and stop the developer cutting off the public access to the beach.
Novosa, my brother, keep blogging to inform ur people about the lie ur people having been living and putting up with since the kai india invaded ur lands. Im with u bro and so are most of the decent and fair minded and well informed bloggers of all races.
@Nacaga
Nice cut and paste job. Have you any idea what any of it means? It’s nothing to do with what I wrote. Is this what the RFMF spoilers are reduced to? May be some of the 200 new recruits actually passed FJ English.
@Akissy
You really are something. You, who spout racist crap denigrating landowners, then you say you’re looking for ‘non-racist fijians’. I think in Frank’s race-free Fiji you mean iTaukei don’t you, but what is a non-racist Fijian? What do think racism is other than the slurs you make about iTaukei.
As to rents needing to be low so farmers can make a profit. If farmers were paying rent set by market forces they’d soon surrender their land to someone who could use it profitably. As it is, the TLTB does little to collect rent or evict farmers who don’t pay their rents, even though they are extremely low.
The Davies study showed the share of revenue going to landowners, not the dollar values of rents. The 2.4% share for landowners is a joke. The only reason it has been sustained so far is because landowners and tenants often have dealings outside the TLTB framework.
Of course total revenue for sugar has taken a huge hit after the completely stuffed mill refit, loss of EU aid, both thanks to Bainimarama, so it’s hardly an easy time for reform.
The one thing that’s clear is that the idle land problem will not be solved by giving all power over land to Bainimarama.
It needs genuine dialogue between landowners farmers and government, which is the last thing Bainimarama can achieve.
There are farmers and landowners who work together, paying rent, paying fair premiums on renewal and helping one another, with money and help in kind over generations. They do this in spite of the TLTB and the rigidity of ALTA.
@Bahut Julum
Flogging a dead horse am I? ASK doesn’t think so. He’s squealing like a pig stuck in a fence, pleading for us to stop talking about land, and it’s not me that’s worrying him so much. It’s the entire iTaukei community.
those who talk about land should cultivate it themselves. problem solved.
anon stop the crap. its my land i choose to do what i do.
u want my land u must talk to me..like a rational fair human…not point ur gun at me and take it away…thats aggravated robbery.
in normal and democratic civilised societies u would be sent to jail for doing it.
@ the mana
” u want my land u must talk to me..like a rational fair human…not point ur gun at me and take it away…thats aggravated robbery.”
And that is why the rule of law is so important – because the dictator and his cronies write anything they please, to please themselves – because they do not obey the law, but demand everyone else must.
Nacaga
when are u going to respond to Navosa…with all ur superlatives curry head?
And explain the difference between the Fijian land butako decree and the State Lands Act and the State Acquisition Lands Act??
all u need to do is do a cut and paste job like Navosa observed u can do to perfection without even reading the paste.
come on boy, no need to hide, we know u not Fijian so no need to pretend to be one.
90% of the land in fiji belongs to the native fijians. and they can do whatever they want with it. let it lie idle for the next 99 years if they wish, that is ok. because after 100 years, the land is still there for the future native fijians to do whatever they want with it. but bainimarama/khaiyum want to change all that. so fijians, it’s your choice, you want to keep your land, DO NOT VOTE for bainimarama.
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