Fwd(GLW): FIJI: Land reform for the rich

["Alan Bradley" <abradley1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From Green Left Weekly, May 8, 2002.
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FIJI: Land reform for the rich
BY MICHELLE BREAR

SUVA - Parading as a champion of the poor and landless, Fiji's Prime
Minister Laisenia Qarase is backing two parliamentary bills that will
transfer government-controlled land to the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB),
the authority that manages land on behalf Melanesian Fijians.

Qarase, who is a member of the Melanesian-chauvinist Fijian United Party
(SDL), accused the bill's opponents, which include the Fiji Labour Party, of
having no respect for "indigenous land rights" and using "political
double-speak" to hide their "racism".

The bills, approved in the Senate on April 27, reduce land under state
control to around 1% of the total and increases that under NLTB control from
83% to more than 90%, despite the fact that the body represents only 51% of
Fiji's population.

< The remainder of the article can be found at:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/current/491p15c.htm >


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