KEY POINTS:
A Fiji Government official is reassuring foreign buyers that they are welcome after the Pacific state's military regime halted land title transfers for about a fortnight when it seized power late last year.
Ilaitia Bulai Navunisaravi, marketing manager at the Department of Lands and Survey in Suva, said the military's temporary restrictions were intended to "see the number of land sales, whether proper procedures were followed and also to see possible ways to improve service delivery".
The interim government had lifted the property restrictions soon after they were imposed and titles were being issued for transfers as usual. He had been told by Tevita Vuibau, Minister of Lands and Mineral Resources, that the restrictions were temporary.
"Foreign investors are welcome here," Mr Navunisaravi said.
"We're part of the global village and Fiji is a small country so we need investment."
But the suspension has left some New Zealanders concerned about getting titles to Fiji land.
An Auckland-based real estate consultant working with New Zealand developers said the temporary title transfer freeze sent worrying signals to investors wanting property in Fiji.
The consultant, who did not want to be named, said the move sent shivers through real estate investors in New Zealand.
An Australian consultant, who specialises in selling islands, also said the temporary ban was worrying. Cheyenne Morrison, of Coldwell Banker Morrison's Private Islands, said the ban was put in place to stamp out corruption because "several large developers had been bribing officials in the lands department to approve sales of native land".
"The owners of the land were paid a very small fraction of the true value of the property and there had been public unrest and demonstrations over the issue.
"While the coup was a bad thing, the new government is very pro-foreign development."
Late last month, Fiji's interim government said it would establish a committee to look into difficulties being experienced by foreign investors.
The coup leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, said the committee was established to examine the large number of complaints made by investors facing problems getting their projects started. The committee is chaired by Lailun Khan, chef executive of the Fiji Trade and Investment Board. Heads of key government departments and agencies are on the committee.
Fletcher Building, which has some large jobs underway in Fiji, said it was unaffected by the coup. Mark Binns, head of Fletcher Construction, said the firm had worked through other coups in Fiji and they had made no difference to how the business operated.
The builder has been working in the South Pacific since 1946 and in Fiji since 1970.
Peter Cowey, Fletcher Construction's communications executive, said the firm had a number of projects either under way or nearing completion. They included the Denarau Beach Resort, the conference centre, shops at Denarau, the Rewa bridge, storage facilities for Air Pacific, and temples for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at Korovou and Naulu.
