‘No lease approved’

A QAMEA Island resort has come under the spotlight for allegedly operating on native land without a proper lease.

The iTaukei Land Trust Board has confirmed to this newspaper that it has not issued any lease to Sandjunes Management Group Ltd for the hotel operation of Waruka Bay Resort.

In a statement, the board said: “There was no lease or sublease approved for Sandjunes Management Group Ltd. The lessee, Seteo Cakobau, had a business dealing with Sandjunes Management Group Ltd which had progressed to a sublease dealing, however to date, formal sublease application has yet to be received or approved by TLTB.”

Mr Cakobau owns 28 hectares of land at Waruka Bay on Qamea Island, Taveuni.

The TLTB added that while they encouraged development which contributed to socioeconomic development, it expected investors to comply with the laws of Fiji.

“The iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) only has record of a tourism lease issued to Mr Seteo Cakobau,” the board said.

“The lessee, Seteo Cakobau, has to take the necessary action since the area developed is covered under his lease.

“Seteo and Sandjunes Management Group Ltd are the ones who initiated the development and partnership on that project at the initial stages and must sort out their issues/differences and reach a resolution for best way forward.”

Mr Cakobau, however, is disappointed with procedures involved in the setting up of the Waruka Bay Resort Ltd, which he claims occupies about 7.6ha.

In an interview with this newspaper, Mr Cakobau claimed the company recorded his participation at a meeting on June 25, 2014, as a shareholder of 50 per cent.

However, on this date Mr Cakobau claimed he was out of the country and the immigration department has confirmed this through correspondence.

Mr Cakobau has also questioned the alleged issuing of a hotel licence by the Hotel Licensing Board (HLB) to the resort. He has also questioned the credibility of screening applications carried out by various authorities before granting appropriate business licences.

Questions sent to the HLB have remained unanswered. Questions sent to the company’s legal advisers remained unanswered.