AFTER the conclusion of public consultations on the Mining Act 1965 and the Quarries Act 1939, landowners in Fiji’s Central and Western divisions have strongly voiced their desire for greater involvement in resource management and decision-making under new legislation.
Mineral technical advisor Dr Apete Soro said many landowners wanted a seat at the table in the development of the new law.
“There have been quite a lot of discussions on their participation in the process,” he said. “Landowners’ participation in terms of the permitting process of licensing, whether it’s an exploration license or a mining lease… current act is mainly a government process; landowners have very minimum involvement or participation.
“Apart from participation, there is also a call for a more equitable or fair share of benefits, whatever benefits are realised or gained from either mineral exploration or mining to help landowners have a fair share.”
Dr Soro highlighted that a key message emerging from consultations was ownership of resources.
“If the current policy with the State can be returned to landowners or whoever holds the land where the mineral exists … that is one thing coming out loud and clear: ownership of minerals needs to be returned to landowners. “This is going to be a challenge for this team because the ownership is not only captured under the Mining Act but also in the 2013 Constitution.”
He said while the review of the mining laws would follow its own path, constitutional changes might also need to reflect these submissions.
“While this review will go on its own path, I think the newly appointed commissioners that are going to do the review of the Constitution will probably also need to somehow hear some of these submissions that are clearly coming out.
“We understand that the process of changing the Constitution is a very different process, but this is something that is coming out loud and clear. “So, we’ll try our best to do it in such a way that it reflects the voice that we are hearing.”
