Politicing Wainisavulevu

Timoci Gaunavinaka, Waila, Nausori

Some political parties are now quickly jumping on to the bandwagon in regard to the Wainisavulevu weir issue to score cheap political points.

Some are even claiming that they know the technical solutions, pretending to be scientists themselves.

Problems at Wainisavulevu are not the first of its kind and will not be the last if we continue to treat it like a political football.

In early 1999 Dr. Dick Watling made similar warning regarding the Savusavu foreshore reclamation.

Dr Watling clearly stated that a retaining wall must first be put in place before the soil is filled in.

That was not followed in 2000 and the developers bulldozed the soil direct into the open sea with no retaining wall. Tens of thousands of tones of soil was washed into the Savusavu lagoon causing huge damage to their local fishery and to a pearl farm near the area. Mahendra Chaudhry was Prime Minister then.

In 2002, proper precautionary measures were not followed and cyanide leakage from the second settlement pond on Mt. Kasi Gold mine killed thousands of fish and other estuarine and marine life on the Yanawai river. Qarase was Prime Minister then.

Whether it was the Labour Government, SDL, FijiFirst or Tom, Dick or Harry, when proper procedures are not followed then there is bound to be problems. Most of the conservation NGOs in Fiji are offshore funded.

They all have Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that states that they must assist Government on each of their specific fields.

This is why it is important for the Department of Environment as the “Conservation Focal Point” to regularly engage them as an extra arm of Government and not view them as its nemesis or competitor.

Government has worked closely with these conservation NGOs in the “Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas” (FLMMA) network and also in the “Sisi Initiative” at Tunuloa, Cakaudrove, and won international awards for both.

Please let this type of partnership continue in healthy terms and you listen to one another as we used to do in the good old days for the sake of our children and their children in years to come.