Some Namosi mataqali have not agreed and signed leases for proposed hydro dams

Mataqali Nabukebuke in Navunikabi Village in Namosi highlighted that some mataqali have agreed to the proposed hydro dams but there are also several people and landowning units that have not agreed and have not signed leases with the developers.

3 hydro dams have been proposed to be built on the land owned by the villagers of Wainikoroiluva, Wainikovu and Waivaka in Namosi while some members of the mataqali Nabukebuke claim they will be negatively affected from this.

Nabukebuke Spokesperson Simione Naiteqe says their mataqali shares concerns from the ITaukei Land Trust Board about misinformation and encourages all parties to work together to ensure correct information is shared.

He says they are not and will not dispute the developer’s statement that many meetings were held in the villages, but what they are questioning is the quality of the scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment meetings and whether they were meaningful consultations.

Naiteqe says landowners have been advised by Hydro Fiji there will be an estimated 50cm increase in water levels in Navunikabi.

He says this increase will have an impact on them as they use the river for primary crossing to access essential services like hospital, schools and farms.

Hydro Fiji Pty Ltd has stressed that they will comply with its commitments and follow instructions from the Department Of Environment to manage and mitigate all environmental impacts that cannot be avoided.

Executive Chairman Dr Philip van der Riet says the Company acknowledges and stands by its opinions that it is not possible to develop any project involving major civil construction in a natural location without any environmental impact, and equally impossible to have improvements in living standards with zero impact to an existing way of life.

Hydro Fiji says contrary to persistent and ill‑informed rumours, the Project will not result in any inundation, flooding or the need for relocation of any existing communities.

He says it has been and will continue to be designed and developed in accordance with internationally acceptable standards of safety and integrity.

The project to build three dams in Namosi was developed in response to the Fijian government’s call, first made several years ago, for greater private sector involvement in meeting the challenges of generating more than 80% of electricity demand from renewable energy sources by the end of year 2021.

He says the project has been developed as a private sector initiative within the framework of the National Development Plan published by the Ministry of Economy in November 2017.

Riet says the Project is the only “shovel ready” power generation facility that can make an immediate and significant contribution to Fiji’s renewable energy target.

He says it will deliver at least a third of the current shortfall in renewable energy available to EFL on Viti Levu.

Riet says the project will require major foreign investment and by accepting and encouraging foreign investment by independent power producers such as Hydro Fiji, government frees up capital for other projects like roads, schools, airports where private sector participation is less straightforward.

He says the retail cost of diesel fuel replaced by this project is approximately $FJ70 million annually at current price levels.

Riet says this is a major economic benefit to Fiji especially due to the avoidance of a substantial foreign currency obligation as a result of replacing imported diesel fuel with home‑produced hydro energy.

The Executive Chairman says the avoidance of diesel fuel usage saves the annual production of approximately 84,000 tonnes of carbon, a greenhouse gas recognised as the major cause of Global Warming.