In their letter opposing the Wainikoroiluva Hydro Dam project, the villagers highlighted their concerns about the project's potential impact on their culture, environment, and livelihood. Photo: Social Empowerment and Education Program- SEEP
Villagers from Navunikabi in Namosi Province were joined by the head of Fiji's Catholic Church on Friday to deliver a petition to the country's prime minister objecting to a proposed hydroelectric dam project.
According to local media reports, in their letter opposing the Wainikoroiluva Hydro Dam project, the villagers highlighted their concerns about the project's potential impact on their culture, environment, and livelihood.
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, who led villagers to government buildings in the capital, Suva, told reporters he was supporting the group "to protect their land, river, plants, trees, and the people who live along the river, who could be exploited and forgotten in the construction of the dam".
He said that "care for creation" is something that everyone, "especially the government", needs to be concerned with.
Stakeholders in the project include Energy Fiji Limited and the Australian High Commission.
The petition was also handed to the opposition MP and former minister in the FijiFirst government, Jone Usamate.
Navunikabi village chairman Sipirano Nariva told the Fiji Sun that they felt "unheard and undervalued". Photo: Social Empowerment and Education Program- SEEP
Usamate said that he was aware of the issues being raised by the villagers.
However, he said a balanced approach was needed.
"We need to look after the economic development of the country. At the same time, environmental resources and our ecology...once they are gone, they are gone," he said.
"We need to be able to balance both of these considerations. There needs to be a balance. Our ecology and environment are limited."
Navunikabi village chairman Sipirano Nariva told the Fiji Sun that they felt "unheard and undervalued" due to the lack of direct engagement from the parties involved in the project.
"The concerns we have raised are serious," he was quoted as saying.
"This project threatens our ancestral lands, our cultural heritage, and the environment we rely on."
Rabuka and the Fijian government are yet to make comments on the issue.
