Government must maintain a neutral role in facilitating the needs and interests of both landowners and investors when it comes to mining prospects.
In an interview with The Fiji Times online platform The Lens @177, Mr Vosarogo was asked about the challenges faced by Government in dealing with special prospecting licences (SPL) and ensuring the rights of landowners were protected.
He said the Coalition Government was not around when SPL issuances were done in the past, nor were they aware of the discussions that led up to it, however, through consultations, they had been told “very disturbing stories” of encounters landowners had with the previous administration.
The Namosi Joint Venture, he said, was one where the exploration was running for more than a decade.
“It’s not necessarily a requirement of law, that we will consult with the landowners because it’s just exploration,” he said.
“It’s when you get to the SPL issuance, that’s when we need to tie up a lot of things.
I thought that we will go and examine, what was it? What is it that the landowners feel right now about these SPLs? “We’re finding that there is a lot of animosity that’s built up over the years.
That just tells me that the proper foundation of what needed to be done in the first place, was an expanse of consultation that had to go far and wide, with as much detail as possible.
“This is so people understand exactly how exploration is going to affect the environment, affect their livelihoods, how it can be minimised and what the undertakings are there from the company that the government will ensure is going to happen and be facilitated, so that there is always harmony in these three-party dialogues.”
He said while Government’s role was to improve and encourage investments in the future, getting the landowners on board also played a critical role.
However, he said this could not be done if there was a heavy-handed government.
“You’re going to have to find the right balance.
I’ve always thought that the best way to do things is to sit down and have a dialogue or roundtable.
No one’s exerting too much power in that discussion.
“So, it’s those delicate stages, trying to harmonise consent, trying to harmonise the landowners to these things because there’s a lot of economic benefit that comes out of this.”
