The host for a Fiji real estate website says a listing for a plot of land at $US20 is the lowest the site has ever had.
Land offered cheaply on Koro Island Photo: fijirealestate.com website
An oceanview freehold plot of 1.8 acres on Koro Island is advertised for $US20 on the website Fijirealestate.net.
The website host said people pay a subscription to list and it is difficult to tell exactly how old a post is.
But the host said this particular post by a foreign landowner is less than three weeks old and while there have been past listings as low as $US2,000 to $US7,000, $US20 is the lowest yet.
The price has been deemed an example of the effect of new land laws which required foreign landowners to build a house worth at least $US120,000 by the end of 2016 - those who failed to do so risk a fine or imprisonment.
Dave Rand (L) with Karen Seaton a woman who was deported from Fiji allegedly for swearing at the president. Photo: Supplied
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, North American landowner Karen Seaton, who was deported last year, said the cheap sale shows owners have lost faith in the legislative system and now just want to get out of Fiji.
The founder of the Fiji Land Owners association, Dave Rand, said the Land Sales act was amended in 2014 to extort fines from 5,000 mostly white landowners and the scarcity of building resources following Cyclone Winston had made it impossible for all non-resident landowners to build a dwelling by the end of last year.
The cyclone, which struck in February 2016, brought winds of up to 325km per hour to Koro Island wiping out most of the houses and claiming eight lives.
