One of Ratu Sukuna's greatest achievements was his role in the establishment of the Native Land Trust Board. Most of the land of Fiji was owned by the "mataqali," or clans, but worked by Indo-Fijian farmers. Prior to 1940, each clan individually negotiated the terms of leasing the land to those who farmed it, resulting in a wide variation of lease terms. As most landholdings were small, few "mataqali" were able to develop their plots to any large degree. The then colonial governor, Sir Arthur Richards, proposed establishing a central body to hold the land in trust and lease it to willing farmers on terms that would be uniform throughout Fiji. The pressing need of the time was to provide land for a growing population of Indo-Fijian farmers, without expropriating it from its Fijian owners, and to do so in a way that was consistent. As early as 1933, Ratu Sukuna had recognised this problem, and had told the Great Council of Chiefs, ""We regard the Indian desire for more permanent tenancy as a natural and legitimate consequence an agricultural community settling in any country. But how was this desire to be reconciled with the need to protect the interests of present and future Fijian landowners?"" The Native Land Trust Board scheme emerged as a solution.