Tongan MP Wants Ban on Foreigners Growing Kava
- Thread starter kasa_balavu
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kastom_lif
Kava Lover
Foreigners are scapegoated because they can come in with heaps of capital and get a business running very quickly. Grassroots businessss often have to grow more slowly.
Plus there is the very real issue of ground being sold/leased with deceptive terms. A lone kastom landowner can sign away a whole village's traditional land without necessarily engaging their input on the decision. Then a bunch of vacation homes and fences go up, and the locals find themselves banned from their usual fishing and gardening areas.
Vanuatu has laws that require 50% of all domestic business employees to be citizens. But the owners of a Chinese store can simply buy Vanuatu passports, so...
Then there's the law that owners of nakamals must be ni-Vanuatu*. In practice that has meant ethnic ni-Vans, but the terminology could also apply correctly to ANY citizen, and the first interpretation is blatantly racist as well, so...
Rather than selling land, i'd prefer locals and overseas investors to work together in a way that's mutually beneficial. Sell shares, not ground.
Plus there is the very real issue of ground being sold/leased with deceptive terms. A lone kastom landowner can sign away a whole village's traditional land without necessarily engaging their input on the decision. Then a bunch of vacation homes and fences go up, and the locals find themselves banned from their usual fishing and gardening areas.
Vanuatu has laws that require 50% of all domestic business employees to be citizens. But the owners of a Chinese store can simply buy Vanuatu passports, so...
Then there's the law that owners of nakamals must be ni-Vanuatu*. In practice that has meant ethnic ni-Vans, but the terminology could also apply correctly to ANY citizen, and the first interpretation is blatantly racist as well, so...
Rather than selling land, i'd prefer locals and overseas investors to work together in a way that's mutually beneficial. Sell shares, not ground.
kastom_lif
Kava Lover
Furthermore, even being a citizen for ages doesn't necessarily qualify you as kamaʻaina in the eyes of the locals.
Was listening to Buzz 96FM the other day and they described Mayumi Green as "a Japanese". Well, that's true but she's also a ni-Van citizen who's lived in Santo for decades.
It wasn't many centuries ago when man Mele, Emau, Aniwa and Futuna were all immigrants as well. They're all considered ethnic ni-Van now, so why the double standard? Was it because they brought good Polynesian kava in their canoes? Mayyyybe
Was listening to Buzz 96FM the other day and they described Mayumi Green as "a Japanese". Well, that's true but she's also a ni-Van citizen who's lived in Santo for decades.
It wasn't many centuries ago when man Mele, Emau, Aniwa and Futuna were all immigrants as well. They're all considered ethnic ni-Van now, so why the double standard? Was it because they brought good Polynesian kava in their canoes? Mayyyybe
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