Cabinet Approves New Village Guidelines by FAB

Fiji Village News - 20 April 2010

A number of guidelines proposed by the Fijian Affairs Board for the registration of I Taukei settlements to be officially recognized as villages has been agreed to by Cabinet.

Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and these guidelines will be adopted as a By Law under the provisions of Regulation 2 of the Fijian Affairs(Tikina and Village) Regulation, 1996.

The Prime Minister said that over the years, requests have been received by the FAB for the official recognition and registration of indigenous settlements to be registered indigenous villages.

He added that no decision has ever been taken on these applications because no guidelines or rules have ever been developed and adopted, to be used as the criteria for assessing such requests to facilitate their registration, or otherwise as villages.

Meanwhile these guidelines are as follows:

• the proposed site must be on native land within the land boundary of its Parent Yavusa,
• the proposed village must be sited on native land where the landowning unit of the land concerned has agreed to surrender, in the traditional manner, ownership rights to such land and which would after registration be owned communally by the village, 
• the inhabitants of the village must be from the one Yavusa, and
•  have recognized and accepted a leader of the new village.