Proposal targets village marriages

Fiji Times - Friday, July 02, 2010

ALL village men who intend to get married must build a house and have a plantation before marriage.

This is a proposal under soon-to-be enacted village by-laws.

It is understood that this proposal has been the norm in several villages for a while now.

Under the draft village by-laws, no married men should hit or abuse their wives. The proposal states all houses built in a village must first be approved by the head of the landowning unit and head of the yavusa before construction begins.

It adds there must be a 12-metre space between each house and all homes must have a kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and toilet.

No house, however, must be bigger than that of the head of the vanua.

Under the proposed laws all boats operating from villages must be licensed before operations begin.

The boats must have the appropriate equipment.

Checks will be conducted by the village headman before the craft is used for fishing or transport.

By-law ban attempt

by Reijeli Kikau
Fiji Times - Friday, July 02, 2010

SMOKING will be banned in village meeting halls under the proposed by-laws.

The draft states all public places within the village such as the community halls and kindergartens and private homes declared no smoking zones, will be smoke-free.

In addition, the by-laws make provisions for the proper disposal of rubbish.

Rubbish must be separated from compost and disposed of accordingly. Villagers will not be allowed to throw rubbish carelessly in the village, on the foreshore or in rivers.

The villagers will be expected to keep animals away from rivers and sources of drinking water. If rubbish is not disposed of under the village laws, the matter must be reported during meetings.

The proposed law states that shouting, singing unnecessarily loudly, increasing the volume of the radio, calling loudly and increasing the volume of television will be considered noise pollution.

The proposed by-laws come under the ambit of the Fijian Affairs Ministry, which is conducting a consultation process around the country. Several provinces are discussing the proposal.