Landowners of Mount Kasi in Cakaudrove have rejected claims by the Ministry of Lands that they agreed to the Government’s decision to award a Special Prospecting Licence to Vatukoula Gold Mines Ltd.
Mataqali spokesman Emori Bukadina said there had been no breakthrough or change in their position.
The Ministry of Lands had earlier issued a statement saying landowners of the vanua of Yanawai in Dawara Village had presented a tabua during consultations to show their commitment.
But Mr Bukadina said those claims were false.
“There has been no breakthrough and no change in our position. Mataqali Naveitokaki have consistently maintained our partnership with Aquilo Gold for six years and continue to object to VGM development on our land,” he said.
“Mataqali Naveitokaki refused to attend the September 5th meeting at Dawara Village. We informed both the mataqali Nakicu and the vanua that we would not participate. Any claim of our participation is completely false.
“The tabua was presented without our knowledge or consent and despite our clear absence, our mataqali name was incorrectly included in the presentation, constituting deliberate misinterpretation of our position.”
He said there had been no cooperation from the Government.
“We have documented objections to Government’s interference dating back to six years and we reject any forced partnership with VGM and maintain our constitutional right to choose our business partners.”
