Landowners in Namosi claim the Government failed to reserve their land for future generations by allowing it to be leased to mining companies for decades.
The concern was raised in Namosi last week during consultations on the review of the Mining Act 1965 and the Quarries Act 1939, where lawyer Mereoni Duaibe presented a submission on behalf of the mataqali Nabukebuke.
Ms Duaibe said the mataqali were the traditional owners of land in Namosi where a significant copper deposit was located and that mineral prospecting in the area dates to the 1930s.
“A key feature about the lands in Namosi is the government’s failure to reserve these lands for future generational use, which basically gave the right to the iTaukei Land Trust Board to lease out our lands to any mining company that it wishes,” she said.
The mataqali also raised concerns about environmental damage caused by past mining activities, including tailings spillages that affected rivers and aquatic life.
“There are some of us in the room whose uncles, fathers, brothers and nephews who were taken to court and imprisoned because they took a stand against mining due to the spillage of tailings that killed our fish and our prawns and damaged our waterways.”
According to the submission, the mataqali has formed Mataqali Nabukebuke Holdings Ltd to manage their own land and pursue economic opportunities while protecting the environment.
The group is also working with international partners to develop a forest carbon project aimed at conserving the land and its ecosystem over the next 50 years.
The submission also called for stronger environmental safeguards in mining legislation, alignment with climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, free, prior and informed consent from indigenous landowners before mining licences are granted, and fairer sharing of benefits from mineral resources.
