Information Minister Lynda Tabuya has warned that Government processes must remain people-focused, saying compliance alone is not enough if communities feel excluded from key development decisions.
She said government systems must be judged not only on whether procedures were followed, but on whether they worked for the people they affect.
“We must always keep front and center the human face of our work, our people, and how we can make things easier for our people as a government.
“There is no point having processes and ticking the boxes or complying with legislation and laws if it’s not working for our people,” she said.
Speaking at the launch of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategic Development Plan 2026-2031, Ms Tabuya said recent tensions around major projects highlighted gaps in how consultations were being carried out.
She referred to the backlash over the Waste to Energy project, the Dreketi River project and the proposed Namosi Hydro project.
She said a recurring concern was that resource owners and landowners were being engaged only after projects had already entered formal government approval processes.
“You can see a pattern where our resource owners and landowners are up in arms for not being fully consulted.”
Ms Tabuya questioned whether investors were effectively engaging communities before approaching Government, or whether consultation was occurring too late in the approval chain.
“What are we not doing right where we are going ahead with enabling investors to come directly to Government without doing the proper consultations first with resource owners?”
She said while regulatory requirements such as environmental impact assessments were being completed, they were not addressing what she described as an earlier breakdown in engagement.
Ms Tabuya said Government needed to clarify responsibility for consultation between investors and agencies, warning that uncertainty in the system was contributing to backlash and threatening project outcomes.
“We cannot afford that kind of backlash that affects our people on the ground.”
