Clan members of Nabukarabe in Nakama Village in Labasa want a seat at the table regarding any further development at the Labasa Airport in Waiqele.
This comes amid their claims that they have never been consulted by either Government, Fiji Airports, the Ministry of Lands or the iTaukei Lands Trust Board over planned extensions to the Labasa Airport, which partially sits on their land.
“Our role in the whole thing has been more tokenistic,” Mataqali Nabukarabe secretary Kalesi Volatabu told The Fiji Times.
“The airport leases date back to the colonial times, so the land was leased to the Ministry of Lands. All developments that have taken place since then have happened without any consideration nor consultation with the landowners. Two years ago, we approached Fiji Airports and also the Ministry of Lands over this. So far, we have not heard from them.”
Ms Volatabu said the mataqali had about 200 active leases in Labasa, with a majority of them leased under conditions that the landowners were not privy to, as they were leased out in the Colonial days, such as the airport in Waiqele.
Details of lease conditions and what kind of payments they are entitled to are sketchy, Ms Volatabu said.
“Since then, there have been upgrades, developments, commercialisation taking place on these leases yet, we the landowners have no idea and no say on what is taking place on those leases.
“We don’t know what categories of leases they are — whether they are commercial or industrial …we are kept completely in the dark and we have had enough.”
She said they wanted a full audit of their land, what type of activities were taking place on them and how they could be properly compensated for the use of their land.
“This is why we are calling for dialogue. We must be fairly compensated, such as jobs for our youth — we have a lot of unemployed youth in the village,” Ms Volatabu said.
“How do these developments benefit us?
“So far, we have been left out of any conversation regarding the use of our land. We now want to change this.”
Also running across their land are Government infrastructures, such as the Nasarava water catchment, currently at the center of another dispute between the mataqali and the Water Authority of Fiji.
The clan, a registered iTaukei Mataqali with 345 members, had earlier issued a statement calling for urgent action to the airport leases.
“We demand an immediate resolution.”
They own 3890 acres in Labasa, with about 1100 acres currently leased under the iTaukei Land Trust Board.
For decades, the clan said they have raised concerns over unclear lease terms, lack of access to agreements and administrative breaches, but their plights had fallen on deaf ears.
Questions sent to Fiji Airports on whether consultations had taken place, and whether new lease arrangements were made, went unanswered as this edition went to print.
The clan warns that delays could affect both the community and ongoing airport developments.
The extension of Labasa airport in Waiqele is an $8.57million Government project to strengthen the existing runway and replace the aging Adi Laisa Terminal which was built in 1973.
The new terminal will be a modern, single-story facility covering approximately 1000 square meters and featuring modern amenities like a baggage carousel and air-conditioning.
Runway strengthening, scheduled for February 16 to March 27, is designed to enhance safety and reliability for aircraft operations but does not involve a runway extension.
