School Closure Threat By Landowners

Issue No: 206; 16 November 2000

Landowners have again threatened to close a government owned secondary school because of dissatisfaction with goodwill payments.

Landowners where the Ratu Kadavulevu School sits have demanded, amongst others, $0.5m as goodwill payment, and given the regime 14 days to meet the demands. Other demands include the school employing people from the 3 landowning units, all teachers' quarters to be taken up by government on rental which will be paid to the landowners, water be supplied to the villagers and residents staying around the school, landowners be allowed to use the road within the school compound to extract gravel, log timber and access their farms, and government to pay premiums, rentals and costs of improvements to the landowners.

The deadline expires on the eve of the first final examination paper for the Fiji Junior Examinations. Landowners have stated that if the demands are not met, they will close the school before the examinations begin. The RKS is almost an exclusive indigenous Fijian school funded by the government.

End 17 November 2000

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