10 Dec 2015

Fiji chief warns about mining damage

2:22 pm on 10 December 2015

A Fiji chief says everything must be done to ensure that the Nawailevu Mining Project is never repeated in any part of Fiji.

Bua chief Adi Filomena Ralogaivau-Tagivetaua made the comments while launching Oxfam's guide to Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Suva this week.

Adi Filomena was part of a team that undertook a scoping survey in Nawailevu village in 2012 and says the findings were heartbreaking.

She says the mining was in its second year and the villagers knew nothing of the consequences.

She says their resources, soil, and land were being taken away from them and there was nothing they could do about it.

The Chinese company Aurum Exploration Limited recently completed mining at a site in Nawailevu, which produced almost 1 million tonnes of bauxite.