On October 12, 1989, forty villagers from Suvavou took control of a cement block-making factory located in Lami. According to a report from The Fiji Times, the group blocked all access points to the factory and the associated truck depot, asserting that they were owed over $1,400 in unpaid land rent by D Narayan Industries, the company operating the factory.
The villagers erected barricades at the gates and set up a tent outside the factory office, where they gathered to drink yaqona while posting guards at the entrances. Metui Mudunavosa, a spokesperson for the Tui Suva, explained that the takeover was a result of unresolved complaints to the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB) about the unpaid rent.
Mudunavosa stated that despite multiple complaints regarding outstanding land rent for 1988 and 1989, the NLTB had failed to act. After a recent meeting with board officials who promised to issue a notice of eviction to the company, the villagers deemed this response unsatisfactory and warned that they would shut down operations at the factory.
The spokesperson further claimed that D Narayan Industries was occupying the land without the proper lease agreement. He clarified that the land was originally leased to D Narayan Brothers Limited in the 1970s, which went bankrupt, leaving the land unleased since then.
Documentation confirmed the original lease to D Narayan Brothers from December 21, 1970, but legal entanglements led to the lease being reassigned several times, eventually coming under the commissioner of Inland Revenue in 1988.
The villagers also alleged that D Narayan Industries had illegally sub-leased portions of the land to a trucking company, which reportedly paid $800 a month and had paid six months of rent in advance, contrasting sharply with the $700 annual payment the landowners received, which was often unpaid.
Villagers indicated that the footprint of D Narayan Industries extended beyond their leased area, with expansion of fences over the years. Mudunavosa mentioned efforts to seek help from the NLTB that went unfulfilled, leading to their decision to occupy the site.
One villager, identified as Joe, expressed a commitment to remain on their ancestral land. Mudunavosa stated that the villagers were prepared to take legal action to reclaim their land and recover the owed rent.
When The Fiji Times visited the site, the villagers were in discussions with D Narayan Industries’ owner and his lawyer about the situation.