thankyou for your kind comments. That is the shot in the arm i need! Please feel free to provide links to or put my article on your website. I must be due to write another article explaining how the system explained above can assist ni-Van’s regain control of their lands.

regards,
Karl

You have hit the nail on the hit!! Land issue in Vanuatu is becoming probably one of the most important issues which if Vanuatu Government does not realize it from the outset; the problem will totally get out of hand and beyond control. I think the problem is probably already on the verge of at its worst stage ever. Land or the tangible property is important to Ni Vanuatu for thousand of years and generations before the arrival of speculators and investors. Many foreigners do not comprehend that the importance of land is more than being a tangible property and asset the way many westerners see it; the importance of land is more than to many Westerners. To Ni Vanuatu, land represents life, materially and spiritually.

I have written articles before voicing my concern to the media that our land laws needed reformation, equally, a few other Ni Vanuatu have done the same, evidently, the concern has culminated in the convening of the land summit in 2006, but Vanuatu Government appears not to be heeding the advice seriously even those recommendations which have been made during the latter summit have not been implemented fully as yet. There is only scanty evidence of Government improvement pertaining to land issues post the land summit. I think the 75 year lease is becoming a joke, it is silly than anything else, it is enshrined under the Constitution that land belongs to Indigenous Ni Vanuatu land owner, it purportedly espouses to protect the interests of Indigenous Ni Vanuatu, but whether it does in reality it remains to be seen. On paper it may be but in reality I have my doubts. The problem is that the lessee does not have to leave the property until the whole development is being paid for by the lessor. In reality how many Indigenous land owners would be able to repay the development out from a resort owned by a multi-national? Let us face it, the answer is NO. I can foresee legal battles lurking in the shadows in foreseeable future. Even in contractual terms which are enforced within an English Common law system which we have, I am afraid if there is a conflict between common law and equity; it is the latter which prevails. I envisage Indigenous Ni Vanuatu people especially the future generations will be the one who would suffer the detrimental consequences of the actions of their parents and grand parents. It is one thing that I blame “greed” greed among some indigenous land owners and foreigners. Obviously land is being bought at a cheaper rate by expatriates then it is the latter who sell the land at an exorbitant price for the purposes of the profit, whilst it is the former who are left sticking their tongue out being thirsty for not only the intangible property which is money, vatu, dollar, pounds etc but equally the tangible property/asset which is the land of course.

You walk outside of the CBD of Port Vila you will see evidently the gap between the rich and the poor exists. You get expatriates residing in expensive areas whilst their Ni Vanuatu counter parts reside in poor slams. The mere fact of creating jobs is not good enough it helps but it does not curtail poverty or contributes towards equity in our society.

Indeed on balance, development is needed but if Vanuatu Government continues to develop precipitous policies which do not protect the interests of indigenous Ni Vanuatu we will become second class citizens again in our own land. Whether the land issues will cease to perpetuates it remains to be seen.

Alivier- Indigenous Ni Vanuatu, LONDON.

if only we were better resourced! tho i must say socialists are very good at such capital v labour forms of analysis. We have more faith in human ingenuity in that if the people could access land they could produce their own capital. Unfortunately the tax advice Vanuatu has been given has been tilted towards taxing food, medicines and other important goods, rather than getting a share of the land bounty. This allows the property lobby to scoot off with millions, whilst entrepreneurs have to pay high rents and do lots of tax paperwork, curtailing innovation, rewarding speculation.

thankyou for your response. Good to hear from other perspectives. You are right, i only had 10 days in Vanuatu so it is not an extensive study. However, the tax system is regressive with VAT falling harder on ni-Van’s than expats who monopolise the flow of tourists via their buses. Yes there are are greedy speculators everywhere (as i admitted early on). It was just jaw dropping how bad the tax advice was and what sort of disrepair the Land Tax system is in. Most of the pain from the ni-Van side that I saw was related to the massive profits that speculators were making. The community was getting next to nothing due to the lack of land valuations, upside down council rating system and mysterious reduction in Land Tax %’s.

New jobs may have been created, but with the price of land escalating and with that food prices too, what is given with one hand is taken away by another.

US aid money building the ring road will only make the land more valuable in the future. Why should private individuals benefit from this, rather than the community? You are right I could have been clearer that this was a critique of the system itself, not individuals.

All in all, why should food and essentials be taxed, rather than using the tax system to create a moral compass to direct people away from land speculation and towards more creative business.