iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) chief executive officer Solomoni Nata has challenged landowners to change their mindset, end the hand-out mentality and work themselves out of poverty.
Yesterday, TLTB disbursed its first batch of 10 loan offers from its iTaukei Development Fund Facility (TDF), its latest initiative in a bid to reinvent service provision to landowners, whose land it holds in trust under the iTaukei Land Trust Act 1940.
“The current status (of iTaukei wellbeing) is not good. We are regarded as poor in our own country — 75 per cent of our people are poor and we iTaukei are the poorest of the poor,” Mr Nata told this newspaper afterwards.
“So this kind of assistance is targeted at helping them build up their own businesses, use their land or whatever resources they have so they can start a new business,” Mr Nata said.
A total of 7,747 landowning units in the form of yavusa, mataqali and tokatoka are served by the TLTB and upon their land, TLTB administers a total of 53,446 leases of all types, the portfolio generating a total of around $53.5million in lease rentals a year.
Every year, TLTB distributes between $100m to $120m in lease money to the landowning units, money which, according to Mr Nata, is usually just spent away while iTaukei still remain in poverty.
This has led to changes being made at TLTB.
“We have to reverse the situation. We can’t just sit here idle so this is what we’re doing. TLTB is sourcing out some funds to assist them and today, we witnessed the first batch of assistance to the mataqali, to the individual. No deposit — but based on very solid business plan.
“I’m telling them (landowners) that the current pathway that we’re going has to change. Change their attitude in terms of investment, the culture — business has a certain culture, wake up early in the morning, you have to save money, make sure you don’t spend money unnecessarily for all these vaka vanua things, etc.
“So this is a collaborative approach to doing business. We’ll look at the business proposal, we grant them some assistance then we’ll follow up with them. And along the way if we see fit, we can even inject further assistance, because this is the landowners’ money. We don’t want to put it to waste.”
The TDF has been allocated $5m by TLTB and the facility will provide eligible landowners with low interest business loans to start or expand business enterprises.
