A FLOATING restaurant under construction in the Mamanuca Group — and given the green light by the Environment Department — has upset the Mamanuca Environment Society (MES).
Construction work on the project began earlier this year and the floating eatery is set to begin operations next month. MES project manager Marica Vakacola said the new development came as a surprise to the organisation and its members.
“What we don’t understand is there were no consultations done with neighbouring resorts and tourist properties in the Mamanucas and Malolo,” she said.
“All we want to know is if there was an environment impact assessment done and if there wasn’t any, what justification did they give to the developer to go ahead with the project?”
She said the location of operation was an issue of even more concern for MES.
“We found out that this development would be located on a very important reef in the group which is one of a few marine systems that survived the coral bleaching period earlier this year.
“We had even done some coral replanting exercises there to try and encourage more coral growth so when we found out that this project was going to be on this reef, we had a lot of questions and concerns.”
MES board chairman Geoffrey Shaw said they were not against tourism development but wanted to ensure that each project was sustainable and did not have a drastic impact on the environment.
“Anyone that is operating in this area and in this environment should be compliant to the law and the law says before you undertake a development in an environment like this you must conduct an EIA which involves community consultation and everything that goes with that,” he said.
“It also requires government oversight and inspections must also be carried out to ensure long-term sustainability.
“The last thing we want is environmental damage caused by an operator who is not in compliance with the law.”
Environment Ministry permanent secretary Joshua Wycliffe said all environmental procedures and assessments in regards to the development were followed before the green light was given to developers to carry out construction work.
“When they actually presented us with the plan, it was a very innovative approach towards the environment as well,” he said.
“The structure is not done on top of the sea so it is a facility that will be assembled on land before it is moved and clamped on to an anchorage structure that will be moved once the business closes for the day.
“The reef that MES is concerned about is not threatened. The structure will be located 70m away from the reef. One of the things that I have to clarify the new facility is not a tourist facility. It is a fine-dine restaurant that will only operate during the day time.”
Mr Wycliffe said the development would be located about 1.5km to the south of Malolo Lailai Island and Lomani Island Resort.
“Studies have shown that the mooring site is not on the reef and it is at least 70m away from the reef. The seabed located directly under the pontoon is only sand.”
Director of Environment Sandeep Singh said a water base quality study was carried out on the site to ensure that there would be no waste leakage from the new facility.