“Sacred Gifts”: Fiji’s Methodist Church and the Native Land Trust Agree to Share Records on Donated Land

• The Methodist Church in Fiji signed an agreement with the iTaukei Land Trust Board
• The MOU covers iTaukei land historically donated to the church by landowning units
• It aims to share information and address boundary issues
• Donated iTaukei land cannot be alienated

The Methodist Church in Fiji and the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) have signed a memorandum of understanding on land donated to the church by indigenous landowning units, the TLTB announced on January 23, 2024.

The agreement sets up cooperation and information-sharing on iTaukei land historically given to the church, Fiji’s largest Christian denomination. TLTB interim chief executive Solomoni Nata acknowledged that the land cannot be alienated, and said the partnership would help resolve issues over the boundaries of the church’s land.

Methodist Church president Reverend Dr Semisi Turagavou said the lands are “sacred gifts, and treated as such by the church.” The TLTB described the agreement as a historic understanding that would promote harmony within the iTaukei community.

The announcement did not give lease terms, amounts or the area of land involved.

Some Jamaican churches, too, stand on land given by families or estates generations ago, with boundaries that were never clearly recorded. Working with the land authority to document donated church land and settle its boundaries is a practical model. Clear boundaries protect both the church and the families who gave the land, and make it easier to plan buildings, leases or housing on it.

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