Govt Slams MP Reddy

The Minister for External Trade, Cooperatives and SME’s Manoa Kamikamica, says Opposition MP Mahendra Reddy got his facts ‘totally wrong’ during a press conference on Thursday.

In the press conference Mr Reddy called on the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) not to interfere with the work of the Department of Environment.

Mr Reddy’s statement came after Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka announced the lifting of the stopwork order on the Laucala Island hangar project and for a plant in Ba.

Mr Reddy said the turn of events in recent weeks showed repeated interference by the OPM on the decisions of the director of Environment which he said set a dangerous precedence on the highest office in Government.

He said it was unlawful and in breach of Section 40 of the 2013 Constitution which stated that every person had the right to clean and healthy environment. Responding to Mr Reddy’s statement, Mr Kamikamica said in terms of the facts, Mr Reddy was totally wrong.

Mr Kamikamica clarified that the stop-work order against Laucala Island Resort’s project was never issued by the Department of Environment, but was issued by Fiji Airports Limited last September. “There was no proper explanation given to Laucala Island and it was wrecked by Government interference, a well-known trait of the previous Government,” Mr Kamikamica said.

“It is the new coalition Government, through the decisive leadership of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka and I that got the stop-order removed,” he said.

Mr Reddy’s Statement

In the press conference on Thursday, Mr Reddy called on Government to let the Department of Environment carry out its duties as provided for under the Environment Management Act and not interfere in its operations and decisions.

“The current approach taken will now seek all investors having any issues to raise their concern with the Prime Minister’s office without exhausting the process laid out in the Environment Management Act.”

He said the decisions made by the Ministry of Environment (under Mr Rabuka), were scientific in nature which required scientific input rather than political interference.

“What expertise does the staff of the Office of the Prime Minister have to instruct the Environment ministry to remove the stop-work notice?” Mr Reddy asked.

“Why couldn’t they ask as to why the investor did not follow the Environmental Management Act which they signed off on? How the investor will compensate for the environmental damage that his plant is making in the interim. “What if the environmental damage is irreversible, who will be held responsible?”

Kamikamica responds further

With regards to the factory in Ba, Mr Kamikamica said the company had received a stop-work order notice last week and it was going to put 200 workers Ba out of work. “Given the serious implications, I, as Minister responsible for Trade, initiated a meeting with the Department of Environment to discuss the case,” Mr Kamikamica said.

“I want to put on record my appreciation to the Director of Environment and its PS for agreeing to the meeting. Contrary to what Hon Reddy had alleged, I did not threaten anyone at the meeting and the overall tone was one of facilitation, respect and cordiality,” he said.

“At the end of the meeting, a way was found to keep the factory open and for the testing of air quality to be conducted at the steel mill in Ba. It has to be noted that ultimately the coalition Government’s action has resulted in a major investor to continue with a $30million project. That is significant.