PRIME MINISTER HON. VOREQE BAINIMARAMA’S SPEECH AT GROUND-BREAKING NASAQELA SUBDIVISION PROJECT.

Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.

For those who don’t know, last week we wrapped up the second week of our Parliament for the year. It was another week of consistent, responsible and forward-thinking leadership on display from my Government. We outlined the progress our nation has made, we informed the people on critical issues and we passed new legislation to keep our nation on the fast-track of growth and development. 

Unfortunately, this week also proved that – while some faces among the Opposition may have changed – the low level of their contributions hasn’t changed one bit. At some moments, I wasn’t sure who they were there to oppose, my Government or members of their own party. You’d think after spending so long as an opposition party, they’d have re-strategised by now and come up with some new lines of attack. At least that would keep things interesting! But no, it’s been much of the same misinformation and confusion, and – at times – the same outright lies that we’ve been listening to for years. The same tactics I’m sure many of you saw firsthand during the election campaigns last year; you may even have listened to some of those same lies on one of their DVDs. Well, unlike the opposition, I prefer speaking with our people face-to-face and I prefer speaking the truth. 

My response to that campaign of lies and misinformation has always been the same. Rather than listening with your ears to the lies they’re telling you, look around with your own eyes and see for yourselves what my Government has done – and is doing – for our country. You can see the children in our classrooms, who now benefit from free education, free textbooks and subsidised transportation to school. You can see the students in university who are benefitting from historic funding towards tertiary loans and scholarships. You can see the benefits of our free water scheme, and the subsidised electricity initiative. You can see the new roads, the new bridges, ports and jetties we’re building across the country. And, importantly, you can see that the iTaukei people today operate from a position of strength unrivalled by any other time in our history. You can see the words of our Constitution that protect the land and rights of the iTaukei for all time; that is why not one inch of iTaukei land has ever been lost under my Government. 

But enough about the Parliament and politics. This is where I’d always rather be: With our people, welcoming new opportunity. Today, we’re breaking ground on a new Government funded development of iTaukei land. This is the fifth such project we’ve undertaken nationwide, and today Nasaqela joins communities in Wairebeta, Vuda, Saweni and Yadua whose land is being developed through this initiative as we speak. 

In Fijian history, we’ve never seen a programme such as this be made available to our landowners. This initiative was pursued by my Government because we recognised a very simple problem. Many of our landowners had huge assets at their disposal, they had large amounts of land, but they didn’t have enough cash at their disposal to develop that land for their benefit. 

That left many communities vulnerable; vulnerable to outside developers who were the only ones who had the capital to come in and develop their land. Third-party developers with far deeper pockets would come in, develop iTaukei land for a low price, and then lease that land out themselves and make a killing. Landowners only saw a small part of the pie, as these third-party developers cut out big pieces of the revenue that came from development. 

It was my Government that finally stepped in and said: Enough is enough. We want you – our landowners – to be more than rich in assets, we want you to be cash rich as well. We want you to realise the full benefits from your land. We want you to become more economically and financially powerful. We want you to lease your land for long term leases and get the right rental paid for it. And today we are giving you the funding you need to develop your land so you can do precisely that. 

It seems like an obvious solution. But we were the first government to ever think of it. We’re also the first government to make sure that the iTaukei people are empowered, not on the basis of their position, but on an equal basis – where even those most vulnerable in our society, our women and our young people, see the financial benefits of their land ownership. 

Under this project, five and a half acres of land will be developed to create 17 lots, 16 for residential purposes and one for a commercial purpose. The total cost of this development is just over two million dollars. And my Government will bear the entirety of that cost. As part of this project, we will build the roads and connect your subdivision to water and electricity so you can directly sell the leases yourself to make a financial gain; money you can use to support your families today or start a business, invest in an existing enterprise or fund more development that can create even more income in the future. 

As we welcome this new development for your community, I want to make an important point. This is certainly a victory for your community. But it is also a victory for your country and for your fellow Fijians. Because when you complete this development and lease this land, you won’t only see a financial gain, you’ll also provide homes for Fijian families. You’ll create jobs for our people. And you’ll give confidence to investors to invest in the security of 99-year leases. You’ll do well for yourselves, and you’ll do well for Fiji by doing your part in growing our economy, and that is a victory truly worth celebrating. 

I am very excited to watch this land develop and serve your community and many more Fijians in the years to come. This is your land today, and it will be your land for all time. But it does not mean you cannot lease it for long term as that will give you income and financial security and at the same time create opportunities for all Fijians and investors. Take this opportunity to make the best possible use of what is yours, and build something that will support your community for generations. 

Vinaka vakalevu - Thank you.