A landowner from Vatukaloko, Ra has urged the government review committee revising Fiji’s mining and quarry laws to clearly separate surface land rights from mineral ownership, calling for precise legal definitions to protect landowning units and ensure fair benefit-sharing. The plea, made by Sele Tagivuni during a recent committee session, is the latest development as the panel considers updates to the Mining Act 1965 and the Quarries Act 1939.
“There needs to be an articulate demarcation between land ownership and mineral ownership,” Tagivuni told the review committee, stressing that any regulatory framework must first recognise that surface land rights belong to landowning units unless mineral ownership is confirmed through comprehensive assessment. His intervention highlights concerns among customary landowners that ambiguous language in the current acts leaves rights and entitlements unclear when mineral extraction is proposed on or beneath their land.
Tagivuni also addressed a commonly cited notion about the depth at which mineral ownership begins, noting that existing legislation does not specify a “six feet” rule for resource ownership. By drawing attention to that gap, he underlined the need for statutory clarity so landowners, developers and regulators have a shared, legally sound understanding of where surface tenure ends and mineral rights begin.
The call for clearer statutory interpretation found support from Mineral Resources Technical Advisor Dr Apete Soro, who told the committee that practical application of the law would benefit from tighter definitions. Dr Soro’s backing signals technical agreement within the ministry’s advisory ranks that reforms should reduce ambiguity and improve the administration of mineral permits, exploration licenses and quarry operations.
The review committee will now consider these recommendations among others as it works towards amending the decades-old legislation to reflect contemporary land-use realities and customary tenure structures. Advocates say clearer laws could streamline decision-making, reduce disputes, and form the basis for more equitable benefit-sharing arrangements between companies and landowning units when resources are developed.
The Mining Act 1965 and the Quarries Act 1939 have long governed extractive activities in Fiji, but both statutes predate modern frameworks for environmental management, land tenure recognition and community benefit agreements. Calls for reform have picked up pace as communities, technical advisors and policymakers grapple with balancing development opportunities against customary land rights and local aspirations.
This latest input from Vatukaloko adds a direct landowner voice to the committee’s consultations and frames legal demarcation as a foundational issue for any broader legislative overhaul. How the committee incorporates Tagivuni’s and Dr Soro’s recommendations will be closely watched by landowning units, industry stakeholders and legal practitioners concerned with mineral rights and the equitable distribution of resource benefits.
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