A paramount chief and senior opposition MP in Fiji says indigenous people are falling behind in key metrics, including education and employment.
The head of the Burebasaga Confederacy, Ro Teimumu Kepa, says iTaukei are also over-represented in crime figures, which she attributes to a failure of government.
Ro Teimumu says the Great Council of Chiefs, which was suspended in 2008 then disestablished by government decree in 2012, was the only constitutional body looking after the interests of indigenous people.
She says since then, iTaukei land rights, culture, customs and traditions have been eroded, and she is advocating for Fiji to ratify the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights.
Ro Teimumu told Dominic Godfrey that last week's fire which destroyed the Great Council's only income source, the Vale Ni Bose or meeting hall, was symbolic of government attempts to silence dissenting voices.
Fijian paramount chief Ro Teimumu Kepa at a traditional ceremony Photo: Supplied/FRIEND Fiji
