A group of landowners in Drasa, Lautoka is set to receive $6 million in lease payments next week. This payout is a testament to their success as resource owners, achieved through collaboration with a well-established pine industry model created in the 1970s, according to the Fiji Pine Group of Companies.
Fiji Pine’s statement noted that “2024 has been a year of growth despite some challenges as the company works to improve various operational areas.” The lease security bonus payments will be distributed next Wednesday at the company’s headquarters in Drasa, Lautoka, where representatives from the thousands of landowning units (Mataqali) will gather to celebrate a successful operational year.
These occasions are significant as Mataqali members plan projects for their villages and receive funds to support these initiatives. The bonus payments have fostered substantial business opportunities in the villages for pine landowners, who have consistently capitalized on these payments each year.
Since 2013, lease bonus payments have opened up numerous possibilities and business ventures for thousands of landowning units. In the early years, the amounts were relatively modest, starting at approximately $661,835, amounting to $10 per hectare of pine plantations. The following year, payouts increased, reaching $1 million with a payment of $15.50 per hectare.
To date, Fiji Pine has disbursed at least $25 million in Lease Security Bonus Payments to pine landowners.