Landowners of Namosi and Nawaidina in Naitasiri are opposing the renewal of the license for Namosi Joint Venture (NJV) to mine in the area.
Namosi landowners committee “Lomani Au, Maroroi Au” (LAMA) chairman Sipiriano Nariva said the landowners have been consistently objecting to the previous renewals of the Special Prospecting Licence (SPL) 1420 since 2009, however, their concerns for the protection of the environment and the people have been ignored.
“Our objection arises from the very fact that we do not want mining in Namosi, but rather we want our land and pristine environment preserved,” Mr Nariva said.
“We fully understand the benefits to the Government and Fiji should a project of such magnitude be established in Namosi, however, our experiences on the repercussions of prospecting works in Namosi for the past decade has made us resolute in our stance to protect the environment.”
He said the reason for was due to the environmental and social impacts in the Namosi and Naitasiri Province that have been experienced in the last decade.
“Previous governments and prospecting license holders have never consulted, empowered and enlightened the people of the negative impacts of these projects for the last four decades of prospecting works.
“Our land has never been demarcated into each respective landowning units (mataqali), but rather communal land ownership under the yavusa.
“However, according to the agreements, facilitated by iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB), NJV are paying land rentals and compensation directly to the mataqali, it is confusing and we are of the opinion that this is deliberate on the government’s part.
” Mr Nariva claimed there have been no Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the project even though NJV had been operating on Namosi lands for over a decade.
Questions were sent to Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo remained unanswered when this edition went to press.
