On the 20th of April 2006, the report of the Cultural Centre's study into the Customary Lands Tribunal Act and the process of its implementation was officially launched. The report was published in two versions, an English version - “Report of the National Review of the Customary Land Tribunal Program in Vanuatu” - and a Bislama version - “Ripot blong Nasonal Stadi blong Skelem Program blong Kastomari Lan Traebunal long Vanuatu”.

Chief Selwyn Garu, the Secretary General of the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs, officially launched the report at the Chiefs’ Nakamal in Port Vila. At the launch, the Director of the Cultural Centre, Ralph Regenvanu, stressed that the publication of this report at this time was intended to raise general awareness in the country in preparation for the National Land Summit, which takes place in Port Vila in the last week of September 2006. Between March and May 2006, the Cultural Centre assisted the Department of Lands to undertake awareness about the Lands Summit in each province of the country.

THE RESEARCH PROJECT

Purpose and Objectives:
To undertake research on the Customary Lands Tribunal Act of 2001 and the process of its implementation in Vanuatu, the results of which will inform discussion and debate regarding land policy in the country.

Project Description:
The Customary Lands Tribunals Act of 2001 initiated a process by which formal land tribunals are currently being set up throughout the country in order to assist the resolution of land dispute cases. This process has already been started in a number of communities and will soon be initiated throughout the country.
As the land tribunals process is purported to strengthen customary approaches to land dispute resolution, the Cultural Centre has been interested in assessing how this process is actually working and being perceived by policy makers, communities and landowners, as well as how it is impacting upon the resolution of land disputes.
Joel Simo, a researcher with extensive experience looking at land and land policy issues in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, was engaged by the Cultural Centre in 2003, with funding assistance from CUSO, to undertake a one year study on the process by which the Lands Tribunals Act was being implemented in Vanuatu and the effectiveness of the process to date.

Project Benefits:
• A broader representation of civil society and community views on land policy to policy-makers
• The provision of additional resources to inform and facilitate discussion and debate about land policy in the country
• Enhancement of government policy through provision of resources resulting from consultation, discussion and debate
• Provision of an educational and awareness-raising resource on land policy that can be utilised at all levels (because published in both Bislama and English): government, donors, NGOs, chiefs councils, rural communities

Background:
The three independent states of Melanesia – Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea (PNG) – are the last three countries in the world where the people who have developed an intimate relationship with the land over generations still control its use via customary, communal systems of land tenure. However, the World Bank/ International Monetary Fund (WB/IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and other foreign aid agencies, see continued local control of land as an impediment to ‘development’ and have called for the registration and individual titling of land under government control via variously-labeled land reform schemes. These big banks and aid agencies hold that land registration will facilitate private sector led development as well as alleviating the problems associated with land disputes.

In Vanuatu, this process is being led by the ADB via the Land Tribunals initiative. Land Tribunals are currently being set up throughout the country in order to hear and settle land dispute cases, and to facilitate registration of the disputed lands. This process has already been started in a number of communities and will soon be initiated throughout the country.

However, while big bank and aid agency consultants have convinced the national government that Land Tribunals and land registration are the only way forward for Vanuatu, an international seminar on “The Negative Impacts of World Bank Market-Based Land Reform Policy” last year concluded that such policies resulted in a redistribution of land in favor of the already wealthy (Vanuatu Trading Post, 22 March 2003). The existence of such strongly opposed opinions on this key development issue points to the need for more discussion, consultation, and debate before land registration is implemented throughout the country. Such discussion and debate needs to be informed by research regarding the effectiveness of the Land Tribunal initiative to date, and other related land issues.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the Report

The Vanuatu National Cultural Council with the assistance of CUSO decided to closely monitor the new Land Act that was implemented by the government in 2001. The Customary Lands Tribunal (CLTA) of 2001 was set up to ease the back log of land disputes in court and rising land problems that the country faces.

The research was conducted with the close assistance of the Lands Tribunal Office in Port Vila and Luganville. The research was carried out in order to see if people especially the chiefs and other community leaders understand the concept of the CLTA and what they ought to be doing with it in their respective communities. Special attention also had been given to the community youth, women and the general public.

The report focuses firstly on the traditional land tenure and what land means traditionally to the people who have been living and acting upon it for thousands of years. It explores how different custom and cultures throughout Vanuatu view land and how it relates to them. It became evident that there is no landlessness in Vanuatu, everybody belongs to a nasara or nakamal and everybody has a place to live on and work the land; whether it is a big piece of land or a small piece of land they are all secure under kastom.

Land to ni Vanuatu is everything they have, it embodies their link to their past, their present and their future. It contains everything they do in life, that is their daily interactions and their beliefs. It is normally the clan or the tribe that are the custodians of the land and within these clan and tribal areas families are allocated individual holdings that they work on to sustain themselves. Thus, it is for these reasons that ni-Vanuatu see land as sacred and a part of themselves, it is not seen as mere commodity that can be used and then dispensed with when it is no longer needed. Not only is it sacred but it totally contradicts the imported notion of ‘ownership’ of land. Land is for the people and it is in custody for future generations.

To understand the current introduced land tenure system the traditional land tenure system was researched into and then compare to the Vanuatu imported land laws that the country is adopting. It was found that the two systems do not complement each other in that the introduced land tenure system does not view land in the same way that the traditional tenure does. It is ‘ownership’ versus the ‘custodians’ of the land.

The traditional land tenure system has always been with the people before and during the colonial days up till independence. After independence, new laws were introduced in order to bring money development into the country. These new land laws have in some ways contributed to the country’s cash economy and are similar to those of other countries that have been colonized. However, these land laws are gradually marginalizing the indigenous population and depriving them of the initial power that they once had over their land. A good number of the indigenous population who have leased out their land are already experiencing difficulty in securing back their land when the lease terms have expired.

The research clearly showed that a good number of people who have leased out their land lack the appropriate knowledge and the decisions they make have a negative repercussion not only on them but on their future generations. Furthermore, it is also impacting on the traditional land tenure that has been in place for thousands of years.

These new land laws have created physical and mental fences around land, thus limiting other people’s freedom to access the land to meet their needs. It exclude others from the land.

The CLT research that was conducted through out Vanuatu found that there was not enough awareness given to the people, especially the chiefs and other community leaders. The lack of clear understanding of the Act is a major obstacle to its implementation in the communities because people fear they might not be doing it correctly. The people have to rely solely on the CLA office for assistance on how the Act could be implemented. It raises the following questions:

a) Did the CLTA ever come from the people in the first place?

b) If it is a Customary Lands Tribunal who is to have the ownership of it? It is evident that the ownership of the CLTA will not be in the hands of the population. People will be dependent on the CLT office.

If the population is to own the Land Tribunal the people should have been given the opportunity to participate in it from the initial process to its implementing stages.

The CLTA has been implemented in a number of communities in Vanuatu. A case study was conducted in Hog Harbor South East Santo and on Lelepa Island in North Efate. These two communities have had first hand experience with the CLTA. The information collected from the two parties involved in each case show similar experiences. A common experience shared by both parties in the two different communities is that it completely divides the communities and the families. The initial community spirit of sharing and working together was disrupted when the CLTA came into the community to preside over their land problems.

There were a number of concerns raised and one was that the CLTA appeals from village to area and island level. All parties strongly emphasize that the CLT should not appeal beyond village level. Beyond village level is already foreign to the community and the knowledge that they have over their land.

It was also strongly emphasized that the CLTA is gradually eroding the chiefs’ and his elders’ power to preside over land disputes. Not only is it marginalizing chiefs and reducing their power but also the CLTA fees are another major issue . It was pointed out that a lot of people who live in rural communities do not have the money and they can easily lose their case if they do not have the appropriate funds to help them through. It is a huge burden for those who do not have consistent cash income.

Despite all the negative implications from the people some see CLTA as a way forward for Vanuatu in dealing with land disputes. CLTA can put an end to land disputes and help people to work in harmony with different customs. It is a means of bringing development to rural communities in the country.

However, CLTA still has a long way yet to achieve its goals simply because it is trying legalize custom frame work that that tries to accommodate 113 over different customs and cultures of Vanuatu. It is a one size fits all customs and it is evident that it will take a long time for the people of Vanuatu to have ownership of it.