Opposition Member of Parliament Mosese Bulitavu has questioned why the allowance for the Turaga Ni Yavusa been reduced to $100 in the 2023-2024 National Budget.
While debating on the contents of the Budget in Parliament, Bulitavu said initially, the Great Council of Chiefs had also approved the allowance of $200 to the Turaga Ni Yavusa.
“The other thing people are asking from Professor Biman is that when the GCC had approved a $200 allowance, why did you reduce it to $100? This is a common question that is coming from ordinary Fijian natives.”
“You have to tell them why you reduced it because if the GCC had approved $200 then why did you have to reduce it to $100? There is an allowance for the Turaga Ni Yavusa. The biggest question by some of the land owners in Vanua Levu is why didn’t they include the Turaga Ni Mataqali and Turaga Ni Tokatoka and why only the Turaga Ni Yavusa.”
“Why? Because most of the Turaga Ni Mataqali have more land mass than the Turaga Ni Yavusa. Why are you only focusing on the Turaga Ni Yavusa while the I-Taukei obligations such as funeral and lotu (prayer) are at Mataqali and Tokatoka level,” he added.
