The Ministry of iTaukei Affairs and the iTaukei Lands and Fisheries Commission are working hand in hand to ensure that vacant chiefly and customary positions are filled, as the occupancy rate for the past years has been very low.
Permanent Secretary for iTaukei Affairs Pita Tagicakirewa says for the past seven years, this has been around 47 percent, which means that over half of the chiefly positions in Fiji have been vacant for so long.
He says there is a total of over 6,000 chiefly customary positions in Fiji.
Tagicakirewa says if leadership is lacking in the Vanua, then naturally, different issues such as drugs, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy and others will rise.
He adds the iTaukei Lands and Fisheries Commission has visited five provinces, raising awareness of the importance of having those vacant leadership titles filled.
