Minster for Lands and Mineral Resources, Hon. Ashneel Sudhakar distributed the second royalty fair share payout to landowners in Nasomo Village, Vatukoula on the 22nd of December, 2018.
This payment totaled $62,705.24 for 123 landowners in the Nasomo Landowners Trust, for the period of September – November 2018, where each landowner received $509.80. These royalty payments are for mining undertaken on their land, Hon. Sudhakar says,
"This of course has been calculated and aligned to Section 5 of the Fair Share of Mineral Royalties Act 2018, which states that 80 percent of the royalty be given to the owner and 20 percent of the royalty be retained by the State.”
Hon. Sudhakar adds that the Ministry is legally obligated to pay out this share of royalty to the landowners; there would be no royalties to even pay out if it was not for the initial support and trust rendered by the landowners to the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources.
“This not only increases the shares of landowners in ‘mineral development’ but also furthers the foundation and growth of this partnership between the people and its elected Government in this robust sector,” He says.
Honourable Minister urged the landowners to use their payments wisely.
The first phase of the royalty payment was done on the 6th of November, 2018 where the Trust received $65,221 for 100 landowners, with each landowner receiving $652.21.