Fiji’s Ministry of Housing says all eviction notices issued to the 40-plus residents of Veiraisi Settlement in Nadera, Nasinu, were legally served.
Through a statement issued via the Fijian Government social media Facebook platform, the ministry stated the land in Veiraisi was not under the Ministry of Housing and Community Development lease.
Rather, it was freehold land owned by Nasinu Land Purchase Cooperative.
“The recent eviction notices served by the freehold landowner to individuals in Veiraisi were lawfully issued in line with a court order,” the ministry stated.
“This was after certain individuals residing on the land in question had opted not to move to an alternative arrangement proposed by the landowner. The Nasinu Land and Purchase first offered all settlers in Veiraisi the opportunity to move to an alternative area in 2018. Most families accepted this offer to relocate.
“Since that time, the matter has been heard in court and the owner of the freehold land was entitled to evict any individuals residing on the land in question, as per the recently issued court order.”
According to the ministry, they had intervened to allow the settlers to buy additional time, and negotiated another six months with the landowner to allow the individuals residing on the land to move.
“Legally, the Fijian Government can only serve as a mediator between squatters and freehold landowners.”
According to the director for Housing, Ronit Sen, they held several meetings with the landowner and representatives of the affected families since the court order was issued.
“We have secured as much additional time as possible for them to find alternative housing,” Mr Sen said.
“During that time, we conducted a survey and considered temporary accommodation in Public Rental Board flats, however, some families reported exceedingly large household sizes that could not fit in to PRB flats.
“It has been clear for more than four years that the families would have to eventually move out, as this is a freehold land. After we secured an additional six-month window for alternative arrangements to be made, the court order now must be respected.”
The ministry highlighted that there were over 250 informal settlements around Fiji.
“The ministry is working with both Ministry of Lands and iTaukei Land Trust Board to acquire and upgrade these settlements over time to provide secured land tenure to the settlers.
“The ministry currently has 46 development leases under its upgrade program and three are now upgraded and ready for formalisation. Another 12 settlements are ready to commence upgrade works in this financial year, with about $10 million allocated in the 2022-2023 National Budget for these works.”
