IN an effort to improve its services and adopt a more modern approach to the management of iTaukei land, the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB ) has been working with private and government agencies in implementing digital mapping systems.

TLTB general manager Tevita Kuruvakadua said the board was still heavily dependent on identifying iTaukei land through the iTaukei Lands Commission (TLC).

“We see the GIS system as a tool,” he said.

“At the moment, we have TLC maps or boundaries which were demarcated during the veitarogi vanua and those maps are very important to us but they need to be digitalised.”

He said by digitalising these maps, problems such as land dispute could be addressed in a more concise manner.

“We are facing problems in terms of land disputes or in certain circumstances some boundaries have been moved for certain reasons so by having these digitalised maps we can be able to pinpoint the area and take the process of resolving these issues from there.

“This is about getting our basics right and one of the important things about that is having the right location found with the right technology.

“We need to be able to identify the land and which particular landowning unit owns that land.

“We can also see the distribution of lease monies being done correctly through this system because we have all of their information in one place.

“If these mapping are not done correctly then it becomes a problem for us because there are a lot of issues that can arise from that error.”

He said the digital mapping system was a new program that had great benefit for TLTB and landowners.