Opinion: Environmental protection and government’s failures
Opinion: Environmental protection and government’s failures
Apr 12,
2021
Last month the Suva Magistrates Court found the developers of a resort site on Fiji’s Malolo Islands guilty of undertaking development without an approved Environmental Impact Assessment Report. That development included destroying part of the reef and dumping waste in order to build a resort and casino. Sentencing is scheduled for May 25. But the case has reminded Timoci Tuiqali of his experiences on Nanuya Sewa.
Opinion: Environmental Protection and Government’s Failures.
The Fiji government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been exemplary. The speed at which the curve was flattened, the lockdowns, the public awareness campaigns, the robust contact tracing was similar to the efforts of developed nations such as New Zealand and South Korea. So has the government’s textbook response to the measles epidemic, and Cyclone Harold relief efforts. It shows that the government has the muscle and the skill set to deal with any global crisis and pandemic. However, when it comes to standing up for Fijian land and the environment, the government has chosen to turn a blind eye. Despite our Prime Minister’s presidency of COP23, despite the awards given to him for being a climate champion, and being the leading global voice to save the planet; from where I stand, on the desecrated womb of the island of Nanuya Sewa, this government is all talk. So much hot air to broadcast to the world the pretense of being world leaders in environmental protection and conservation, yet when environmental abuse occurs, the government turns a blind eye, the act conveniently brushed under the carpet.