The legal ownership of areas at the Sigatoka Sand Dunes has to be ascertained to find out which areas are owned by Government and which areas fall under the jurisdiction of the mataqali groups.
Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights chairman Alvick Maharaj made the comments at a public hearing on the Heritage Bill in Sigatoka on Thursday.
He was responding to a question from the public on the processes to be followed for sand extraction from the dunes.
“Sand dunes is a government-owned property while the other side, whether it’s government-owned or not, is the primary matter to be identified,” he said.
“If it’s a Crown lease, then the National Trust has to write to the government of the day to increase the buffer zone for that area to be protected.
“But for some reason, if that portion from where the sand is being extracted, if it owned by a particular mataqali and they don’t want that particular piece of land where the sand is sitting to be under National Trust, then it is entirely on the mataqali to give consent for the extraction of the sand.”
Mr Maharaj said the landowners had to do an environmental impact assessment (EIA) first.
“Once the EIA is done, it’s passed to the TLTB (iTaukei Land Trust Board) to issue and allow for the extraction of the sand to take place.
“If the mataqali allows for the resource to be extracted, we cannot go and say no, you cannot do it.
“But the proper process has to be followed. The EIA has to be done and if the EIA says you cannot extract, definitely TLTB won’t give the consent.”
He said the National Trust and Department of Heritage can write to the Cabinet, asking for the extension of the boundary to safe-guard the sand dunes from sand extraction.
