Peceli Naviticoko 
[Source: SEI]
Indigenous landowners have called on the Great Council of Chiefs to urgently look into the law surrounding the sharing of mineral resource royalties.
Osea Vutikalulu of Naveicovatu, Tailevu, has made this submission to the GCC Review Committee to return the land and fisheries ownership royalties to landowners.
“Currently, we have indigenous land and fisheries that are owned by the government, so we want them to be returned to us, and if we could be the only rightful owner and not the government, I believe that way will assist us in generating income for our Yavusa or Mataqali.”
Vutikalulu claims it’s unfortunate that only six feet below the land surface belong to the landowners while beneath that belongs to the state.
Currently, under the Fair Share of Mineral Royalties Bill 2018, resource owners get 80 percent while the government gets 20 percent of the mineral royalties.
