Over six thousand chiefly customary positions remain unfilled, according to Permanent Secretary for iTaukei Affairs, Pita Tagicakirewa.
Approximately 47 percent of these positions have been filled over the past several years, leaving over half vacant for an extended period.
Tagicakirewa emphasized that the lack of leadership in the vanua could lead to an increase in social issues.
“There are over 6,000 chiefly customary positions that are vacant. The occupancy rate has been around 47 percent for the past several years, indicating that over half of these positions have remained vacant,” Tagicakirewa stated.
“If leadership is lacking in the vanua, it is natural to expect problems to arise,” he added.
To address this, they are enhancing Vanua Leadership and Vanua governance by deploying officers from the iTaukei Lands and Fisheries Commission to visit various provinces.
“In an effort to strengthen vanua leadership and governance, the iTaukei Land and Fisheries Commission is visiting the provinces. They have visited Rewa, and recently returned from Cakaudrove, Bua, and Macuata, with the aim of filling all chiefly and customary vacant positions,” Tagicakirewa explained.
He noted that the success rate of these visits has been high, at 80 percent. Every village will be visited and consulted during this process.
“This situation has persisted for several years, but now they are visiting the villages. They are currently in Serua conducting the same process. Once this is accomplished, we will train our Vanua leaders on the importance of their roles, which is something that has been lacking,” he said.
Moreover, the Bose Vanua will be reinforced, particularly to tackle the rising issues of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS. The Ministry aims to visit five provinces by the end of the year.