Fiji's Attorney General announces the formation of a native land tribunal into the historic acquisitions and transactions that, fit the bill of unjust proportionality. Added to that, will be the creation of a Qoliqoli Commission for native fishing grounds.
Blogger Heed Heeb attempts to unravel the facts from his point of view on Fiji Land tribunal.
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Fiji Village's Yellow Bucket has also plucked up enough courage to comment on the issue as well. The proposed Qoliqoli Bill, as Yellow Bucket rightly points out has two important components to it.
The legislation demarcates recreational use from the commercial applications of coastal waters within native fishing grounds. That is, the public still have freedom of use for actitivities such as swimming and picnics.
If S.i.F.M projects the legal rational of the Qoliqoli Bill further then, personal surfing is also allowed. However surfing contests and tournaments, could arguably fit the commericial definitions of recreational activity.
It is hard to imagine how the famed Tavarua Cloud Break resort interlocks with this new legislation. Which begs the question, who administers the current agreement with the Tavarua landowner? If N.L.T.B administers Tavarua lease then, it explains why the organization intends to widen their empire.
Although, the Qoliqoli Commission is a wonderful concept from the views of the indigenous population; the Bill in totality must be transparent and devoid of any connection to established native institutions.
It would be a more informed aspect to give several models of the legal framework; such that the best may be chosen by the native resource owners. As it is, it really is mash-mash of laws cut and paste that well serves the intentions of Fiji Attorney General.
Communication and knowledge will ultimately remove any ambiguities from the perspective of hotel investors. More so, if it stems from an independent source.
What is deeply concerning to S.i.F.M are the reports of Native Lands Trust Board having jurisdiction over the commercial licencing framework. It ultimately creates a entity with carte-blanche access to all native resources while relegating to the real resource owners to a pitiful observer status.
S.i.F.M acknowledges the need for a regulating authority but resents the idea of giving N.L.T.B absolutue authority, access and control over native resources. All readers are aware of the dangers of that power remaining un-checked and un-throttled.
S.I.F.M is equally mindful of the political strings attached to such monumental laws, especially in regards to the nationalistic threads of appeal which, accompany the gesture to Fiji's indigenous populace.
Perhaps it is time for the creation of a Native Fijian Law Resources Centre by concerned taukei residing overseas and domestically, who wish to scrutinize the operations, management of these governmental induced entities. To ensure that Fijian have full access to the wide spectrum of legal resources.
Here is a case study(PDF format) documented by a similar organization in Canada named "Indian Law Resource Center".
Another case of native land claims in the U.S, New York state is documented in this PDF file.
I don't know what the claims will achieve. An example is the Mago Island story which has a shameful incident where a group of Fijians were murdered in a cave many years ago. But it's history and the descendants today of some of the Mago Island Fijians who relocated in Lakeba I think, cannot really expect a great windfall of money. Mago Island has changed hands a few times since then. We all bear the scars of painful histories - even in Australia, many people are descendants of Irish families who were treated very badly and lost land to intruders from England and Scotland. It's past. Get on with the present.
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Knowing your past is the key to your future. How can you know where you heading, if you don't know where you came from?
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