Coverage on the Princess Road development close to the cliff edge and how the Tamavua Action Group has petitioned against the project going ahead due to environmental concerns.
Members of the Tamavua Action Group who are residents in the Tamavua area are now gathering signatures to protest against the development close to the cliff edge of Princes Road which they say was approved in 2014 without proper public consultations and without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
A link of the petition is being widely circulated, and the petition will be presented to the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo.
They are objecting to the planned construction of apartment blocks on Lot L-7, DP 5478 CT 21966 Princes Rd, which lies close to the cliff edge west of Princes Road.
The Tamavua Action Group says they understand that the approved plan involves building 6 apartment blocks on the lot - the first two, closest to the road were originally to be two storeys high; the second two, in the middle, three storeys high; and the final two closest to the cliff edge four storeys high.
The concerned group say they further understand that an amendment to the plan has recently been approved to allow the developer to add additional storeys to the apartment blocks.
fijivillage News has established that the developers are now building three storeys high apartment blocks for the first two, four storeys high for the middle two and four storeys high for the two closest to the cliff edge.
The Tamavua Action Group says this development was approved in 2014 without a public consultation which is a fundamental requirement in the Town and Country Planning Act.
They say this consultation would have provided residents of Tamavua with an opportunity to assess the nature of this major project and raise any objections that they might have had.
The concerned residents’ petition says the planning approval was granted without an Environmental lmpact Assessment. They say this is crucial as the development lies in an area with a well-documented history of geological instability.
They say specifically, it lies directly on an earthquake fault line.
Their concern is that increasing the load on the cliff edge in this manner could increase the immediate risk of circular slip failure, inducing mud-flows and/or boulder-rolls.
They say it also increases the risk of a major catastrophe in the event of an earthquake.
The Tamavua Action Group says for both reasons, they are concerned that the development could pose a major public safety issue, not least for the large settlement at the bottom of the cliff.
The petition states that in 2020, the Tamavua Action Group had raised its concern about high-rise developments along Princes Road from Calvary Temple to Tamavua Village with the Permanent Secretary of Local Government. The Group had received assurances that all high-rise developments west of Princes Road would be put on hold until a full geo-technical engineering assessment was undertaken.
They say other stakeholders, such as the Department of Mineral Resources and Suva City Council were in that meeting.
Following this meeting, the concerned group says the construction of this development was put on hold.
They say they are therefore concerned that construction has now resumed without any further consultation and without such a geo-hazard assessment.
The group says in the absence of an ElA, other environmental consequences of this large development, such as its impact on traffic congestion and infrastructure such as water and sewerage, have not been assessed.
The Tamavua Action Group says given the scale of this development, and the risks associated with it, they are petitioning the Government to suspend work on this development until a full EIA is undertaken.
They say it is important that the EIA contain a comprehensive geo-technical engineering assessment that is in sufficient detail to assure the public that the geo-hazard risks have been sufficiently analysed and addressed.
They further say the importance of such geo-technical analysis is amply demonstrated by the number of large developments in Suva that have run into difficulties, fortunately, so far, without triggering a risk to public safety.
We have raised the questions with the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni Vosarogo.
Questions have also been sent to the Director of Environment, Sandeep Singh, Suva City Council CEO, Azam Khan, the managers of the project and Investment Fiji.
Full petition here: STOP Developments on Princes Road Without Proper Environment Impact Assessments (EIA)
Construction work of the apartment blocks along Princes Road has been suspended.
fijivillage News has received confirmation that the Suva City Council has directed the work to be stopped.
Members of the Tamavua Action Group who are residents in the Tamavua area continue to gather signatures to protest against the development close to the cliff edge of Princes Road which they say was approved in 2014 without proper public consultations and without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
A link of the petition is being widely circulated, and the petition will be presented to the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo.
They are objecting to the planned construction of apartment blocks on Lot L-7, DP 5478 CT 21966 Princes Rd, which lies close to the cliff edge west of Princes Road.
The Tamavua Action Group says they understand that the approved plan involves building 6 apartment blocks on the lot - the first two, closest to the road were originally to be two storeys high; the second two, in the middle, three storeys high; and the final two closest to the cliff edge four storeys high.
The concerned group say they further understand that an amendment to the plan has recently been approved to allow the developer to add additional storeys to the apartment blocks.
fijivillage News has established that the developers are now building three storeys high apartment blocks for the first two, four storeys high for the middle two and four storeys high for the two closest to the cliff edge.
The Tamavua Action Group says this development was approved in 2014 without a public consultation which is a fundamental requirement in the Town and Country Planning Act.
They say this consultation would have provided residents of Tamavua with an opportunity to assess the nature of this major project and raise any objections that they might have had.
The concerned residents’ petition says the planning approval was granted without an Environmental lmpact Assessment. They say this is crucial as the development lies in an area with a well-documented history of geological instability.
They say specifically, it lies directly on an earthquake fault line.
The Tamavua Action Group says given the scale of this development, and the risks associated with it, they are petitioning the Government to suspend work on this development until a full EIA is undertaken.
They say it is important that the EIA contain a comprehensive geo-technical engineering assessment that is in sufficient detail to assure the public that the geo-hazard risks have been sufficiently analysed and addressed.
We have raised the questions with the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni Vosarogo.
Questions have also been sent to the Director of Environment, Sandeep Singh, Suva City Council CEO, Azam Khan, the managers of the project and Investment Fiji.
The Suva City Council had to take urgent action today and stopped construction work recommencing at Princes Road this morning.
fijivillage News was alerted about the open defiance of the stop work order issued by SCC to the developer.
Many people took photos and videos and raised the question on why work had restarted and what is SCC doing about it.
We have been told that the workers said they were doing remedial work however SCC has sternly told them no work is allowed under the previously issued stop work order.
Work at the apartment blocks along Princes Road has been suspended.
Members of the Tamavua Action Group who are residents in the Tamavua area continue to gather signatures to protest against the development close to the cliff edge of Princes Road which they say was approved in 2014 without proper public consultations and without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
A link of the petition is being widely circulated, and the petition will be presented to the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo.
They are objecting to the planned construction of apartment blocks on Lot L-7, DP 5478 CT 21966 Princes Rd, which lies close to the cliff edge west of Princes Road.
The Tamavua Action Group says they understand that the approved plan involves building 6 apartment blocks on the lot - the first two, closest to the road were originally to be two storeys high; the second two, in the middle, three storeys high; and the final two closest to the cliff edge four storeys high.
The concerned group say they further understand that an amendment to the plan has recently been approved to allow the developer to add additional storeys to the apartment blocks.
fijivillage News has established that the developers are building three storeys high apartment blocks for the first two, four storeys high for the middle two and four storeys high for the two closest to the cliff edge.
The Tamavua Action Group says this development was approved in 2014 without a public consultation which is a fundamental requirement in the Town and Country Planning Act.
The Tamavua Action Group says given the scale of this development, and the risks associated with it, they are petitioning the Government to suspend work on this development until a full EIA is undertaken.
They say it is important that the EIA contain a comprehensive geo-technical engineering assessment that is in sufficient detail to assure the public that the geo-hazard risks have been sufficiently analysed and addressed.
We have raised the questions with the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni Vosarogo. They are yet to respond.
Questions have also been sent to the Director of Environment, Sandeep Singh, Suva City Council CEO, Azam Khan, the managers of the project and Investment Fiji.
An Environment Impact Assessment was not done for the apartment development undertaken close to the cliff edge of Princes Road as this was not a requirement and the agencies in 2014 had ascertained that there was a need for a Construction Management Plan and Operations Environmental Management Plan.
A stop work order has been issued for the development of a third floor as approval was only given for two floors however, a representative of the developers says no work on the third floor was done as they are in the process of getting approvals from the Department of Environment.
Members of the Tamavua Action Group who are residents in the Tamavua area continue to gather signatures to protest against the development which they say was approved in 2014 without proper public consultations and without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
While speaking during a consultation with the Tamavua residents, developers - Great-Han International, Department of Environment, Department of Town and Country Planning, Mineral Resources Department and the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa, Tamavua Action Group President Vincent McKenzie says they do not want any high rise building along Princes Road as it is an arterial road and has history.
He is also urging the Ministry of Local Government to visit the residents who live below the cliff as water has been flowing down from the construction for the last three or four weeks. McKenzie says they have seen the mistakes that have been committed and this has now given them a clear mind.
He adds they will be handing over their petition to the authorities next week.
Suva resident Adrienne Ali says investors are not welcome into the country if they breach the laws.
She says maybe its a little bit unreasonable but their expectations are very high however they will hold the government to those expectations because they want a better life for everybody in Fiji which means they will watch them all the time.
Meanwhile, Suva City Council CEO Azam Khan says the reason for the stop work order is in relation to some conditions that were there from the very original approval issued and one of them is to seek further endorsement from the Director Environment who will need to review given that there is now an extension.
He says there has also been a breach with regards to the earlier conditions issued on which they have had discussion for the developer to work out the remedies.
This includes silt flow onto the road for which the developers will be fined $5,000.
Khan further says public consultation was only carried out for the rezoning where the lot has been rezoned from Residential A to Residential B which means with proper sewerage system, 20 percent of the lot can be developed.
He says following this they had a meeting with the Tamavua Action Group in 2018 and there has not been another rezoning after 2018.
Khan says they have noted that for such major development, they need consultation on a face-to-face basis.
He says in terms of monitoring the development, they have building inspectors on board who are supposed to monitor and keep on ensuring that at the end of the day the assessments are well recorded.
He says in this case there were assessments where the building inspector has raised issues and it is currently being looked into.
Director Environment, Sandeep Singh says approval for a two storey construction was given in 2014, and it was in line with the approval that was granted by the Suva City Council and Department of Town and Country Planning.
Singh says the approval for a third level is not reflected in any of the documents the Department has.
She says as part of the EIA, they require public consultations to be carried out and obviously the Construction Management Plan and Operations Environmental Management Plan were approved and she does not see any requirements for public consultation.
The Director says however, there were special conditions under the approval given by the Department that required for the contractor to ensure there are measures taken place that do not impact the public in terms of the traffic flow, ensuring their safety and all other measures put in place.
Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa says for a project of this nature, it should have undergone some consultation.
He says in every development, there will be risks that affect the development but that does not mean they discourage investors from investing in our country but as a government it is important they consult the residents.
Nalumisa says construction will not resume unless issues identified are remedied.
Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa has instructed the Suva City Council to do morning and afternoon inspections due to continued reports of workers seen working at the development site close to the cliff edge of Princes Road despite a Stop Work Order issued by the SCC to the developers.
Nalumisa stresses the Stop Work Order remains.
Tamavua Action Group President, Vincent McKenzie says residents have raised serious concern as they have seen work being done on some days including the public holidays despite the Stop Work Order. They also saw people working at the site on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
When fijivillage News visited the site on Tuesday and Wednesday, we saw people working at the construction site.
McKenzie is asking what is being done about the repeated breaches as he says when he spoke to the SCC, the person at the site was trying to get in but the gate was locked and a number of dogs were let loose within the property.
Members of the Tamavua Action Group who are residents in the Tamavua area continue to gather signatures to protest against the development close to the cliff edge of Princes Road which they say was approved in 2014 without proper public consultations and without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
A link of the petition is being widely circulated, and the petition will be presented to the Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa and Minister for Lands, Filimoni Vosarogo.
The Tamavua Action Group says they understand that the approved plan involves building 6 apartment blocks on the lot - the first two, closest to the road were originally to be two storeys high; the second two, in the middle, three storeys high; and the final two closest to the cliff edge four storeys high.
The concerned group say they further understand that an amendment to the plan has recently been approved to allow the developer to add additional storeys to the apartment blocks.
fijivillage News has established that the developers are building three storeys high apartment blocks for the first two, four storeys high for the middle two and four storeys high for the two closest to the cliff edge.
The Tamavua Action Group says this development was approved in 2014 without a public consultation which is a fundamental requirement in the Town and Country Planning Act.
The Tamavua Action Group says given the scale of this development, and the risks associated with it, they are petitioning the Government to suspend work on this development until a full EIA is undertaken.
They say it is important that the EIA contain a comprehensive geo-technical engineering assessment that is in sufficient detail to assure the public that the geo-hazard risks have been sufficiently analysed and addressed.
SCC says the Stop Work Order stands however they are yet to comment on how they are dealing with the repeated breaches.
The Tamavua Action Group has written to Local Government Minister, Maciu Nalumisa in relation to the development along 81 to 87 Princes Road in Suva, and is calling for a second public consultation as the Department of Environment has made a decision and a Technical Review Committee has met to assess the project.
In a letter to Nalumisa, President of the Tamavua Action Group, Vincent McKenzie and Kontiki Lane Settlement resident, Kelera Saucake say they believe that there have been two developments that meet the criteria to have a second public consultation meeting.
They say on October 26th, the EIA Administrator, Vukidonu Qionibaravi issued a decision not to require the development to have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and on November 10th, the Department of Environment convened a Technical Review Committee to consider an amended Environment Management Plan (CEMP) or Operational Environment Management Plan (OEMP) presented by Great Han International Company Ltd.
They say a second consultation would enable the government to inform the public why the EIA Administrator decided not to require an EIA; explain the outcome of the Technical Review Committee and its implications for the approval process for the development; and address the many unanswered questions that this development has generated.
Serious concerns are being raised why the Department of Environment through the EIA Administrator is opting for the developer not to have a full Environmental Impact Assessment with proper public consultations, knowing the many issues surrounding the project.
fijivillage News has also asked the Department of Environment how the EIA Administrator arrived at that decision. We are still awaiting their response.
The Tamavua Action Group also says given the importance of the Technical Review Committee, they would encourage the government to publish the formal minutes of the meeting on November 10th, as part of its commitment to transparency in policy making.
We have consulted with Mrs. Kelera Saucake, a representative from the Konitki Lane Settlement, and she has kindly agreed to join us in this appeal for a further public consultation on this Development.
They have also written to the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr. Sivendra Michael and Acting CEO Suva City Council Azam Khan. They say the Princes Road development has generated much speculation because there are so many unanswered questions.
They are asking whether the development was approved in 2014 without an EIA Screening Application being submitted to the Department of Environment and if so, who made the determination to proceed without an EIA and on what legal basis, is it correct that neither the 2014 Environment Management Plan (CEMP) or Operational Environment Management Plan (OEMP) nor the amended CEMP/OEMP presented in 2023 adequately address (i) the findings of any geological investigation and report; (ii) the findings of the structural design report (based on a geological investigation); (iii) a Traffic Impact Assessment; and (iv) the treatment of sewerage and solid waste.
They also ask whether it is correct that the design of the development underwent a major alteration between 2014 and 2022 without an EIA determination or an approval of a revised CEMP/OEMP, and if so, did the alterations (a) nullify the approval of the CEMP/OEMP granted in 2014; and (b) require that the developer submit a Screening Application for an EIA Determination and a new CEMP/OEMP that covered the alternations to the development since 2014 (and not just for the additional floors in Buildings 1 and 2).
The Tamavua Action Group is also asking whether it is correct that the EIA Administrator overruled an internal recommendation to conduct an EIA when she made her EIA determination decision of October 26th, and if so, why was this internal recommendation overruled.
They also ask how does the decision of the EIA Administrator of November 24th, 2023 affect the approval process for the development and does it only affect the additional floors or the development as a whole.
They also want to know what are the next steps with respect to the Stop Work Order on the development.
We have sent questions to the Department of Environment again which is yet to give us a response.
Questions have also been sent to the Minister for Local Government.
The Department of Environment has not responded to the questions raised by the Tamavua Action Group on why the department’s Environmental Impact Assessment Administrator has decided that no EIA is required for the development along 81 to 87 Princes Road in Suva.
The Tamavua Action Group is also asking whether it is correct that the EIA Administrator overruled an internal recommendation to conduct an EIA when she made her EIA determination decision of October 26th, and if so, why was this internal recommendation overruled.
They also ask how does the decision of the EIA Administrator of November 24th, 2023 affect the approval process for the development and does it only affect the additional floors or the development as a whole.
We also sent questions to the Acting Permanent Secretary for Environment, Pita Wise however there has been no response.
Serious concerns are being raised why the Department of Environment through the EIA Administrator is opting for the developer not to have a full Environmental Impact Assessment with proper public consultations, knowing the many issues surrounding the project.
The residents are also calling for a second public consultation as the Department of Environment has made a decision and a Technical Review Committee has met to assess the project. The Tamavua Action Group has also written to Local Government Minister, Maciu Nalumisa. In a letter to Nalumisa, President of the Tamavua Action Group, Vincent McKenzie and Konitiki Lane Settlement resident, Kelera Saucake say they believe that there have been two developments that meet the criteria to have a second public consultation meeting.
They say on October 26th, the EIA Administrator issued a decision not to require the development to have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and on November 10th, the Department of Environment convened a Technical Review Committee to consider an amended Environment Management Plan (CEMP) or Operational Environment Management Plan (OEMP) presented by Great Han International Company Ltd.
They say a second consultation would enable the government to inform the public why the EIA Administrator, Vukidonu Qionibaravi decided not to require an EIA; explain the outcome of the Technical Review Committee and its implications for the approval process for the development; and address the many unanswered questions that this development has generated.
The Tamavua Action Group also says given the importance of the Technical Review Committee, they would encourage the government to publish the formal minutes of the meeting on November 10th, as part of its commitment to transparency in policy making.
They have also written to the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr. Sivendra Michael and Acting CEO Suva City Council Azam Khan. They say the Princes Road development has generated much speculation because there are so many unanswered questions.
They are asking whether the development was approved in 2014 without an EIA Screening Application being submitted to the Department of Environment and if so, who made the determination to proceed without an EIA and on what legal basis, is it correct that neither the 2014 Environment Management Plan (CEMP) or Operational Environment Management Plan (OEMP) nor the amended CEMP/OEMP presented in 2023 adequately address (i) the findings of any geological investigation and report; (ii) the findings of the structural design report (based on a geological investigation); (iii) a Traffic Impact Assessment; and (iv) the treatment of sewerage and solid waste.
They also ask whether it is correct that the design of the development underwent a major alteration between 2014 and 2022 without an EIA determination or an approval of a revised CEMP/OEMP, and if so, did the alterations (a) nullify the approval of the CEMP/OEMP granted in 2014; and (b) require that the developer submit a Screening Application for an EIA Determination and a new CEMP/OEMP that covered the alternations to the development since 2014 (and not just for the additional floors in Buildings 1 and 2).
They also want to know what are the next steps with respect to the Stop Work Order on the development.
Questions have also been sent to the Minister for Local Government.
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