THE Great Council of Chiefs chairman Ratu Viliame Seruvakula has called on the Government to commit to a fairer share of mineral royalties for landowners, saying iTaukei communities have not adequately benefited from resources extracted from their land.
Ratu Viliame said the GCC recognised the need for minerals to remain under State ownership for reasons of security and governance, but argued that this should not deprive landowners of a fair return.
He linked the issue to persistent concerns about poverty among iTaukei communities, questioning why landowners continued to struggle despite the value of resources taken from their land.
“We continue to talk about iTaukei poverty, well no wonder,” he said.
“They’re not given a fair share of what this is supposed to be theirs.”
Ratu Viliame criticised the legacy of colonial-era laws governing resource ownership and benefit-sharing, saying the financial returns to landowners needed greater attention.
“We would really like to see the Government commit themselves to good share of royalty.”
He said fairer royalty arrangements were important to ensuring communities benefited from the development of resources on their land.
Ratu Viliame also pointed to land lease payments and other financial arrangements as areas requiring scrutiny, welcoming provisions that would allow these matters to be examined.
