The $2.89 million Nasoqeloa subdivision site at Namata District, Tailevu, was unveiled by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama yesterday.
The development site would have 15 residential lots, one commercial lot and an open space – a first of its kind in the district.
While commissioning the project, the PM said the site had been developed to global climate resilient standards, with underground cabling for Energy Fiji Ltd and telecommunications.
“While many of our land-owning units have large amounts of land, they don’t always have the upfront capital for major investments to develop their land so that they can lease it out for a high return,” he said.
“This leaves communities vulnerable to being exploited by outsider-third party developers with deep pockets.
“These developers come in, develop land and then lease that land out themselves and make enormous profits. “Landowners only ever see a small part of the pie.
“Alternatively because of politicisation of land and land ownership, we have seen many iTaukei landowners simply hold onto land without productively using it.
“Government refuses to sit by and watch the iTaukei people miss out on revenue, on profits that they should accumulate.
“This is why the iTaukei Land Development initiative was started by Government and how Nasoqeloa subdivision has become the reality we see before us today.
“This means that Government works on everything from clearing and levelling the ground, to subdividing the land and then ensuring connectivity to all utility services including electricity, water, and brand-new paved roads.
“At no time in Fijian history have we ever seen an undertaking such as this being made available to our landowners.”
