People’s Alliance Leader, Sitiveni Rabuka says Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama cannot say that politicians are misleading the iTaukei about the iTaukei Land Trust Amendment Act commonly known as Bill 17 when the Government did not do any proper consultations with the landowners who own iTaukei land.
Rabuka believes the Prime Minister has a very shallow understanding of the impact of the so-called Bill 17.
He asks where was the consultation before the rights of the iTaukei to be consulted on certain matters regarding their land was taken away.
Rabuka says the whole discussion of iTaukei land has failed to consider the issue first considered to be at the heart of it all – the iTaukei, their land and their ability for economic improvement and betterment, using their resources.
The People’s Alliance Leader says Bainimarama is responsible as the Minister for iTaukei Affairs to ensure proper consultations regarding iTaukei land and other related matters are held with the iTaukei since the Great Council of Chiefs has been removed and the senate system with the GCC representatives have been put in the garbage bin by Bainimarama.
Rabuka also says Bainimarama should not think that he is doing any special favours when he goes and speaks to provincial councils like the one in Namosi yesterday as it is his duty to work for the people as the Minister.
Rabuka also says the Prime Minister continues to decry political parties criticisms of his government’s so called achievements, as if it is their entitlement not to be discredited.
He says every government must accept criticism from political parties, especially when it is based on undeniable facts.
The People’s Alliance Leader says the Prime Minister should also tell the provincial meetings he attends how his government intends to pay down its debt over the years that will be at 89% of our GDP by July 2022.
Rabuka says there is no point avoiding the white elephant in the room.
He says Bainimarama should be forthright to the people of Fiji how his government intends to ease the debt burden which is squarely on the shoulders of our children and future generations of Fijians and when they will all have to end up paying the mountain of debt that his FijiFirst government has irresponsibly accumulated over the last 16 years.
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SODELPA Leader Viliame Gavoka says they care about the people and they comment on certain issues because what Government is doing is not effective enough to serve them.
Gavoka says they are highlighting shortcomings and not badmouthing the Government.
He says the Prime Minister should know that they are a political party for the people and they articulate what they know is of concern to the people.
Gavoka says they are concerned that some people can be landowners but they do not have control over their land.
He says without control, ownership is meaningless.
Gavoka says people were not happy about Bill 17 and this showed when they had managed to get 30,000 signatures for a petition to stop the Bill 17 from being enacted in parliament.
The SODELPA Leader also says that they played their part during the peak of the pandemic.
National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says the Prime Minister’s ranting at the Namosi Provincial Council meeting will not hide the fact that the Government’s own Bureau of Statistics produced a Poverty Report that stated very clearly that 75% of those that live below the poverty line are iTaukei.
He says it is unbecoming of a Prime Minister to use his speech at the meeting to criticize Opposition political parties.
Professor Prasad says he knows that the Prime Minister is worried about the alliance between the National Federation Party and People’s Alliance.
He says instead of ranting about Opposition political parties, the Prime Minister should tell the people why they have not been able to fix the deteriorating health services in this country.
Professor Prasad adds it is also not surprising that the Prime Minister is once again trying to stoke fear into the minds of the people by talking about the iTaukei and Indo Fijians and forgetting their own narrative that we are all Fijians.
Fiji Labour Party Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry says the fact is that the people do not seem to be happy with this Government and there are a lot of problems which the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama has not spoken about in the Namosi Provincial Council Meeting.
He says this includes the high cost of living, poverty levels, unemployment and security issues.
Chaudhry says they are approaching elections and it is best the political parries are allowed to express their views.
He adds it is for the landowners to decide whether they have the security of their land.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the biggest challenge that they are facing right now is that political parties have come together to discredit the good work the Government is doing and has done especially for the iTaukei until today.
Bainimarama highlighted this while opening the Namosi Provincial Council Meeting which was held at Veivatuloa Village today.
He says these political parties do not care about the things that the Government has done for the benefit of the people as we were faced with the pandemic.
Bainimarama says it is known that whenever we are nearing the general elections, there is a lot of criticism about the administration of iTaukei land.
He says landowners should not be shaken by this as all the laws that protect iTaukei land is still intact in the 2013 constitution.
Bainimarama adds that section 4 of the iTaukei Land Trust Act has stated that nothing has changed or has taken away the powers of landowners.
The Prime Minister says there is a lot of misleading information from politicians about the iTaukei Land Trust Act which is commonly known as Bill 17.
He says the only change in the Act is the requirements needed when the person leasing wants to take a loan from the bank to help develop the land. Bainimarama says it does not take away the rights of the landowners as there is no change in the laws as well for this.
He says what the politicians are saying is demeaning landowners.
Bainimarama adds that these politicians have tried to stop schools and businesses from opening post-COVID and this shows that they give up easily and are not fit to form a Government.
The Prime Minister also highlighted that a lot of Fijians living abroad are saying that the iTaukei need to wake up as the election is near.
Bainimarama says he wants people to know that he is well awake and does not need any assistance in waking up as he knows what the people need.
He says these people do not know the truth about what is happening and they use social media to spread false information about what is happening in Fiji.
Bainimarama adds the truth will remain and people just need to look back before this Government and what this Government has brought with it.
He adds that this includes the upgrade of schools, the developments and how children were supported in terms of education.
Bainimarama says from 2014 to 2021, the Government used more than $46 million in the development work in the Namosi Province.
He says this includes $20 million for roads, $12 million for health and $3 million for EFL. Bainimarama says this also includes the construction of the new bridge in Nakavu Village, the new hospital in Navua and the provision of clean drinking water in Waivaka and some other villages.
The Prime Minister says the Government has also come up with equal lease distribution and even newborn children have shares now.
Bainimarama says $29.1 million is currently in the accounts of 27,000 landowners who are below 18 years of age.
He says they can even be millionaires when they take their money.
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