Opposition to seabed mining from chiefs in Fiji’s Macuata

Radio New Zealand | 17 February 2020

Fijian chiefs from the northern province of Macuata have warned they will not allow seabed mining in the area.

The decision by the chiefs includes the province’s natural resources management plan (NRM).

Head chief Ratu Wiliame Katonivere told the Fiji Times they would not allow seabed mining to take away their source of livelihood.

He said the chiefs also decided that no other mining activities would take place in the province.

Mr Katonivere said underwater mining was lethal to marine organisms.

The risks and harmful effects of seabed mining far outweighed the benefits of finding precious stones, oil or minerals, he added.

Macuata is home to a large portion of the Great Sea Reef which runs over 200km from Udu point to Bua and across the Vatuira Passage.

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Sand Mining Plan At Sigatoka Rive Row Erupts

Australian company defends position against the petition, to be tabled in Parliament, to stop Sigatoka River project

Fonua Talei | Fiji Sun | 12 Feb 2020

An Australian mining company has strongly defended its position against a petition to stop the issue of licence to mine sand at the Sigatoka River.

The petition is being organised by SODELPA Opposition MP Viliame Gavoka, who has tabled it for Parliament debate next week. It claims residents of riverbank communities may be:

• forced to leave their homes because the mining would negatively affect their livelihood.
• deprived of their ancestral fishing ground as a result of destruction to their environment.

But Garry Lowder, chairman of Dome Gold Mines Limited, said: “If our project proceeds at Sigatoka it will have substantial environmental benefits, including significant mitigation of the chronic flooding that occurs regularly in the Sigatoka River, and revitalisation of the river, which is currently choked with sand.

“The mine, if it proceeds, would very much enhance local employment opportunities and provide a substantial boost to economic activity across the Sigatoka area”

Mr Lowder said the company operated in Fiji on a Special Prospecting Licence 1451 issued by the Fijian Government with strict terms and conditions.

He also said they had fully complied with the terms of the licence and exercise industry best practices in all of their activities.

He said: “We are acutely aware of the need to protect the environment and engage with the local community and we routinely exceed our statutory obligations on both of those matters.”

Mr Gavoka hopes the Speaker of Parliament, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, will nominate a committee to carry out an inquiry.

He said he had collected about 900 signatures. The proposed mining area covers 2522.69 hectares on the plains at the mouth of the river, the river itself and an area offshore.

The petition raises concerns about plans by the company to mine magnetite, a source of iron, for making steel.

Mr Gavoka claimed that in preparation for the Parliament sittings from February 17 21, he had consulted with the landowning units in the Nadroga/Navosa Province particularly the people of the Tikina ‘o Nasigatoka and the surrounding riverbank communities.

“The support has been overwhelming. If I had more time, I could have got thousands of signatures, but I needed to table it quickly in February because mining is scheduled to commence in 2021 and time is of the essence,” Mr Gavoka said.

“These villages are indicating their concern, they are my people, my relatives and also the settlements around the area like Kulukulu.

“I want the inquiry to happen right away. Once the petition is tabled in Parliament, the Speaker will then nominate a committee to carry out an inquiry,” the SODELPA MP said.

Fiji calls for sea-bed mining moratorium as Nautilus restructures

Nic Maclellan | Islands Business | August 13, 2019

Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has again called for a 10-year moratorium on sea-bed mining, at a time that many Pacific island nations are preparing for new frontiers of resource exploitation in the marine environment.

Speaking in Tuvalu this week before the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, Prime Minister Bainimarama called on fellow Forum island states to “support a 10-year moratorium on seabed mining from 2020 to 2030, which would allow for a decade of proper scientific research of our economic zones and territorial waters.”

There is growing pressure from French, Canadian and US corporations to advance the deep-sea mining (DSM) agenda, as well as interest from the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association. Just as energy corporations are looking towards deep-sea oil and gas reserves, companies are developing technology to exploit mineral ore deposits found on the ocean floor, including cobalt crusts, seafloor massive sulphides and ferromanganese nodules.

Fiji’s call for a moratorium comes as community groups across the region are campaigning against potential environmental hazards of deep-sea mining, especially to ecologically sensitive hydrothermal vents. A report from the Guam-based Blue Ocean Law argues:

“There is a general failure to incorporate sufficient environmental protections, as well as the norm of free, prior, and informed consent for indigenous peoples, who are most likely to be impacted by DSM. In the 21st century, and under well-established norms of international law, these omissions represent serious violations of international legal obligations.”

Bainimarama’s call comes the same week as major restructuring of the Nautilus Minerals corporation, which has been planning to commence mining off the coast of Papua New Guinea, under a world-first licence issued by the PNG government.

Fiji and oceans policy

In recent years, Fiji has taken a leading role in ocean policy at the United Nations, working with other Forum island countries through the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) group.

In June 2017, Fiji and Sweden co-hosted the high-level UN Conference on the Oceans and Seas in New York. This conference issued a call for action, highlighting action on ocean acidification, plastics, and overfishing. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed former Fiji UN Ambassador Peter Thomson as the UN Special Envoy on the Ocean.

This global campaigning is also translating into domestic legislation. Speaking in Tuvalu this week, Prime Minister Bainimarama said: “In addition to playing a leadership role in the global Ocean Pathway, we are also developing a National Oceans Policy, under which Fiji plans to move to a 100 per cent sustainable managed Exclusive Economic Zone, with 30 per cent of this being earmarked as a marine protected area by no later than 2030.”

Under the Forum’s “Blue Pacific” agenda, island nations are seeking to draw the links between oceans and climate policy. Bainimarama noted that Fiji was working with the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership to develop “a blended and innovative finance structure to support the decarbonisation of domestic marine transportation fleets and facilities in Fiji and across the region. This means replacing inter-island ships with more efficient hybrid ships, thereby reducing fuel costs and emissions.”

Pacific DSM initiatives

Under the provisions of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), many Forum island countries with large EEZs have been in discussions with transnational corporations to partner in deep sea exploration for maritime resources. Under UNCLOS and the authority of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), developing countries can also partner with overseas corporations to licence exploration in “The Area”, international waters that include vast arrays of minerals in Pacific Ocean areas such as the Clarion-Clipperton zone.

Nauru has long been a champion of DSM – at last year’s Forum leaders’ meeting, Nauru President Baron Waqa hosted a side even with ISA Secretary General Michael Lodge and Samantha Smith, the former Head of Environment and Social Responsibility with the deep-sea mining corporation DeepGreen.

This new frontier has drawn in regional organisations, to address legal, technical and regulatory issues around DSM. Boundary limitation is a vital concern as Pacific nations seek to increase potential revenues from fisheries and seabed mining in their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). From 2010-16, the European Union funded the Pacific Community (SPC) to develop model DSM legislation for Forum member states, with many civil society groups concerned this work was promoting rather than regulating DSM.

The SPC Maritime Boundaries Division has also been engaged in technical work to clarify borders between independent island states as well as with colonial powers like France and the United States (for example, Vanuatu and France have been involved in a decades-long dispute over Matthew and Hunter islands).

There are tensions between the administering powers and territorial governments over the control of seabed minerals in the remaining colonies in the region. With an EEZ of nearly 5 million square kilometres, ocean-floor resources could be vitally important for the newest Forum member, French Polynesia. However, as the French government moved to amend French Polynesia’s autonomy statue earlier this year, France’s constitutional court ruled that rare earths can be classified as “strategic metals”, which come under the control of the French State rather than the Government of French Polynesia.  

Independence leaders have long argued against the French State’s control of strategic metals, with former Senator for French Polynesia Richard Ariihau Tuheiava telling the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation in 2017: “We have continually emphasised the critical nature of the resource question as a core issue for our future development. Whether or not these resources are considered in Paris to be ‘strategic’ is irrelevant to the applicability of international legal decisions which place the ownership of natural resources with the people of the non-self-governing territories.”

Collapse of PNG initiative

Early initiatives to begin sea-bed mining in the Pacific have not come to fruition. This week’s set-back to a major project in Papua New Guinea provides a salutary warning about the complexity and potential costs of DSM.

Under a licence issued by the PNG government, Nautilus Minerals has long planned to mine seabed minerals beneath PNG’s Bismarck Sea. However, with widespread community resistance, falling share prices and the loss of a specialised support vessel, Nautilus constantly pushed out the date for commencement of mining.

In February this year, Nautilus filed for court protection from its creditors under the Canadian Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), and the Canadian-based company was later delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange. This week, major shareholders MB Holding and Metalloinvest have moved to take control of company assets at the expense of major creditors and smaller shareholders (The PNG Government holds 15 per cent equity in Nautilus’ PNG subsidiary and the Solwara 1 project through the company Eda Kopa).

The looming collapse of the Solwara seabed mining initiative has been welcomed by civil society groups in Papua New Guinea, which have been campaigning against potential adverse impacts on ocean ecology.

Jonathan Mesulam of PNG’s Alliance of Solwara Warriors stated:

“We rejoiced when the company filed for protection from creditors in Canada. Our opposition and our court action have helped push it to that point. Communities across Papua New Guinea want to see the nightmare of deep-sea mining removed from PNG waters. We will re-double our efforts to ensure that the new Nautilus will never operate at Solwara 1.”

Fiji’s call for a moratorium on DSM will be debated in the corridors at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum, but there’s a way to go before all Forum member countries are willing to delay action on the supposed ocean El Dorado.

Goldmine tragedy in Fiji

An aerial view of the Vatukoula Gold Mine outside Tavua. Picture: VGML

Repeka Nasiko | Fiji Times | 3 January, 2019

A 47-year-old Chinese national died instantly after rocks fell on his head at a Vatukoula Gold Mine Ltd shaft last weekend.

Police Intelligence and Investigation chief ACP Vakacegu Toduadua said the accident occurred at the mining company’s Dolphin Shaft early Saturday, December 29, 2018.

“A rock fell on the head of a 47-year-old Chinese national who died instantly at the scene while a second 48-year-old Chinese national received injuries,” he said.

“Both were taken to Lautoka Hospital. “A post-mortem (examination) of the deceased has been completed and we have yet to receive the report from the Mineral Resources Department mine inspectors to ascertain the negligence part of the management.”

Meanwhile, Mineral Resources Department acting director Apete Soro said their officials were alerted of the fatal accident last Saturday.

“The ministry through the Mineral Resources Department was informed around 1:15 am of the accident which occurred an hour earlier,” he said.

“A team from the department, which included the manager of the mining division who is a mine engineer and his assistant, were mobilised to Vatukoula the same night and confirmed upon arrival that one male fatality and another male was admitted to Tavua Hospital.

“The latter was later transferred to Lautoka Hospital, but has since been discharged.”

He said an investigation by the department was in progress.

“The team are currently undertaking preliminary investigation which will then lead to the Board of Inquiry under the discretion of the Director of Mines.”

Vatukoula Gold Mines To Recruit 200 More Workers

Vatukoula Gold Mines Limited.

Charles Chambers | Fiji Sun | November 20, 2018

Vatukoula Gold Mines Limited (“VGML”) is looking to recruit 200 more employees to fill the  vacant positions for their underground operations.

The mining company is working with Western provincial administrators based in Ba and Rakiraki on a village-based recruitment programme.

The intent of the project is to encourage young men from rural areas of Fiji to take up employment as underground miners at Vatukoula Gold Mines while maintaining their links to their communities.

These links will be maintained by means of:

• A roster which will enable two weeks off every six weeks.
• Transport will be facilitated to the employee’s community and return to Vatukoula on conclusion of their two week community break.
• As part of their application and selection process, each applicant will be encouraged and required to commit to a specific project in their home community e.g. building a residence, a farming venture, communal building project etc.

Criteria

Young men who meet the criteria for employment will be offered free shared accommodation, inclusive of all services (electricity, water) and the services of a cook but contributing to the cost of their meals out of their wages.

Land for planting of root and vegetable crops will be made available and the opportunity to lower their food purchase  costs by supplying from their home villages and being compensated out of their food budget.

VGML will also provide the services of a Community Relations Officer (“CRO”) as a mentor for all participants in the scheme.

The present CRO is the former head teacher of the Vatukoula Primary School, Serupepeli Koroitubuna.

Recruitment

The CRO will liaise with relevant Government agencies to facilitate the employee’s project wherever possible and will also provide guidance in financial literacy and extracurricular activities designed to grow the employee’s life skills.

To date the company has recruited 12 young men from the villages of Balevuto and Toge from rural Ba and Namauimada and Naboutolu in Ra.

The new employees undergo four weeks of surface induction which involves safety, how to handle themselves in different situations and first aid to name a few.

They are then taken underground for a further six months training under strict supervision.

VGML Corporate Services manager Dini Laufenboeck said the feedback had been very encouraging but that the mines would strictly monitor conditions going forward.

First $25,221 Distributed To 100 Landowners As ‘Fair Share’ Of Mineral Royalties In Vatukoula

Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Faiyaz Koya (middle) handed out cheques to 100 Nasomo landowners under the right of landowners to a fair share of mineral royalties. It came at Vatukoula on November 6, 2018. Photo: Charles Chambers

US$300 each a ‘fair share’ – really? 

Fiji Sun | 7 November 2018

Tis the season to be jolly.

Yesterday marked the day that the right of landowners to a fair share of mineral royalties for the extraction of minerals under their land comes to fruition.

Thanks to the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and his FijiFirst Government

It marks a milestone event not only for the landowners but also for the mining sector and also the Government of Fiji.

The Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Lands and Mineral Resources Faiyaz Koya yesterday disbursed the fair share of mineral royalties to landowners of Nasomo, where $65,221 was distributed to 100 landowners.

The landowners will receive $652.21 each.

Mr Koya said: “It is not a one off payment but a series of payments depending on the amount of mineral being mined by Vatukoula Gold Mine as it operates and continues to mine below your land. 

Share of royalty

“The share of the royalty is for the gold mining at Vatukoula Gold Mine by the Vatukoula Gold Mine Ltd (VGML).

“I would also like to acknowledge the Vatukoula Gold Mine for paying the mining royalty initially to the Mineral Resources Department.”

Mr Koya thanked the landowners of Nasomo that were involved in the consultation with staff of the Ministry of Lands and Minerals in particular the Turaga ni Koro, the Trustees for the Nasomo Landowners in working with staff of the Mineral Resources Department in sorting out issues and making this historical day possible.

mr Koya said: “This fair share payout to landowners is in recognition of their contribution to national development through the use of their land for the purpose of mining.

“This will also assist in socio-economic development and economic empowerment of indigenous landowning communities and boost local economic activity in rural areas, improve quality of life as per vision of the government for equitable benefit sharing.

“I hope that these monies which the Government has shared with you today will be put to good use for the benefit of your families and community and harmonious existence with other stakeholders of the mining community.

“This Government not only talks about caring for all landowners in Fiji, in this case for iTaukei landowners of Nasomo, but backs up its talk with actions such as this, indeed actions speak louder than Words on this historic and milestone occasion.”

Normal practise

Section 30 of Fiji’s 2013 Constitution mentions that all minerals are owned by the state. It provides for the owners of any particular land (irrespective whether customary or freehold) or of any particular registered customary fishing rights to be entitled to receive a fair share of royalties or other money paid to the state in respect of the grant by the state of rights to mine minerals from the land or the seabed in the area of those fishing rights.

“The normal practise is for the royalty to be retained by the state as the owners of minerals under Fiji’s Mining Act,” Mr Koya said.

“However the current government had passed legislation in the May sitting of parliament giving effect to section 30 of the constitution thus allowing the sharing of royalty in this case with native landowners.

“This is the new way of benefit sharing in mineral development in our beloved country where mineral royalty is shared equitably amongst landowners for the betterment of all concerned.

“This “fair share” law is the first of its kind in Fiji (and the region) and the landowners of Nasomo are the first landowners to receive this fair share of Mineral Royalty under the 2013 constitution.

“This proves Government’s continues effort to care for landowners in the utilisation of their land and in this instant for the added benefit for the provision of land for mining whether directly on the surface or indirectly as in case.”

Impact of Industrial & Economic Development on the Environment

 

“We do not inherit the earth from our parents; we borrow it from our children”….North American Indian proverb.

Pope Francis once said: “Destroying the Earth is Sin”. 

“Safeguard Creation,” he said, “because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us!”

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude,”

Leo Nainoka | Social Empowerment & Education Program (SEEP) | 25 October 2018

The over-riding concerns of the Church and certain NGOs like SEEP has been centered on the inequitable distribution of the Earth’s resources.

We would like to focus our attention on the greatest victim of unjust decisions – the rural communities.

One of the themes of Social Justice is “Stewardship of Creation” and it is very important to take note of what Pope Francis said “Creation is a gift that God has given us so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all.”

There are still so many proposed extractions, gravel extraction on rivers and logging being planned in Fiji.

There are so many in the tenement list and maps by the mineral resources department. There is a plan to mine bauxite in Wainunu, Bua. There is magnetite mining earmarked for Sigatoka river by Dome and Gusunituba river in Votua, Ba by Amex. There is ongoing bauxite mining in Dreketi.

There is also plan to mine Namosi of Gold and copper but the Tikina Namosi landowners Committee are holding up well and of cause there is a plan to mine gold in Tuvatu, Sabeto.

Before every mine plan is given the green light there needs to be proper EIA – Environment Impact Assessment process conducted by independent consultants and Fisheries Impact Assessment for gravel extraction and harvesting code of practice for logging

We must first of all examine our ideas on development. Those who are proposing these kinds of development must first of all understand the meaning of development. What really does development mean to us?

Women of Votua selling crabs

While it is true to say that buildings, equipment and money are useful and necessary for development purposes we must be really careful to remind ourselves that development must focus on human beings and not things like infrastructure and so forth. The core of development has to be people centered.

Early French Philosopher, writer and historian – Francois Marie Arouet, well known as Voltaire once said “Don’t think money does everything, or you are going to end up doing everything for money”

In a Globalized world that we are living in, there is more hunger for more money instead of focusing more on human beings.

The focus of every development initiative should be people. Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future generation’s.

The village of Votua, Ba are not really happy on how their “qoliqoli” will be used to extract black sand or magnetite.

In the Fiji Times of 9^th July, 2018 it was reported that “Villagers are still in the dark on black sand extraction”. It went on to say that “some villagers of Votua in Ba claim they have been in the dark regarding black sand extraction in Ba River which according to locals the real name of the river is “Gusunituba”

The village of Votua has three clans – Yavusa Narai , Yavusa Nadua and Yavusa Balavu. The heads of these three clans told us, Social Empowerment & Education Program – SEEP that “they said yes only to exploration” not extraction.

The location of the extraction site is a food bank and livelihood for the people of Votua, Ba. It has contributed to their daily sustenance, education for their children, their community hall, their church and their school.

Proposed extraction site

The three heads of clans are asking the Government to put a stop to this project for the sake of their people, not only for themselves but for their future generation as well.

Awareness raising and community education are extremely important in relation to conservation of fresh water and sea water resources.

This topic also warrants attention in school curricula and adult education programs, including health awareness programs. Again the Churches should play a leading role in encouraging understanding and commitment.

There were no proper due diligence conducted with the people of Votua, Nawaqarua and nearby settlements. There was no free, prior and informed consent.

Free Prior and Informed  Consent is an extraction of UNDRIP for all Indigenous peoples of the world and the right of all Indigenous peoples to be fully informed and to reject or give their consent based on their own collective decision making process to any project that concerns them.

All facts must be shared to the communities where they can base their decision and agreement by the people is without force or manipulation by outside parties or the State.

The indigenous people have their right to their land and their resources and must be free from hazardous materials. They have the right to redress.

According to the people of Votua Village, their Marine resources are very important to their daily needs.

They also said that if these extraction project is given the green light it will drastically threatened their livelihood and very disruptive to coral reefs nearby. Several saltwater and freshwater species are endangered by this unsustainable practice. According to experts extraction causes profound effects on biodiversity.

Makereta Ranadi and Mikaele Seru – looking for crabs to sell

Mangroves are largely found on both sides of the river bank in Gusunituba, Votua, Ba. If these mangroves are lost or if there are mangrove canopies, this will result in diminishing the values of subsistence and commercial fishing by the community of Votua, Nawaqarua and nearby settlements.

Fish, crabs, land crabs, reef fish, prawns, mud crabs, turtles, ark shell, freshwater mussels and other varieties of resources from the river and the seafront can all be threatened if this project is given the green light to go ahead. The environment and the economy are two sides of the same coin.

Most local communities all over the world are resisting environmental destruction of their local habitats and communities but it will be good for the Government and companies to engage with communities like Votua, Ba and provide awareness and bring them on board to understand the effects of this project on their culture, their social lives, the degradation to their environment and their livelihood and how it will have an impact on our weather patterns.

The Social Empowerment & Education Program – SEEP together with communities of Votua, Nawaqarua and nearby settlements believes and hope that good sense and wisdom will prevail, allow for proper consultation and let the communities understand the effects on their environments, their social lives, culture and give them the space to properly discuss these and make their own decision whether to mine or not to mine.

Fiji govt needs to ensure people understand environmental impacts of mining

Peter Loy Chong. Photo: Pacific Theological College

“The majority of the people are not aware of the full consequences of mining, logging, stone extraction, black sand mining and how these will impoverish their food bank,” he said.

Fiji govt needs to walk the talk – archbishop

Radio New Zealand |10 October 2018 

The Fiji government should ensure environmental policies at home reflect the climate messages it promotes abroad, Fiji’s Catholic archbishop says.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been championing the fight against global warming as president of the current UN climate round, the COP23.

But the archbishop, Peter Loy Chong, said the government’s policies needed to be consistent with the proposals it touted during COP23.

Current government policy did too little to protect landowners, the archbishop said.

The government needed to ensure landowners fully understood environmental impacts when negotiating contracts for activities like mining.

“The majority of the people are not aware of the full consequences of mining, logging, stone extraction, black sand mining and how these will impoverish their food bank,” he said.

“It will have an implication on the shores on which they rely for food.”

Fiji: No short cuts to dealing with community grievances on mining

FCOSS executive director Vani Catanasiga. Picture: FT FILE

The Fiji Times | 29 August, 2018

There are no short cuts or easy solutions to dealing with community grievances and disputes arising from mining or extraction says the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS).

FCOSS executive director, Vani Catanasiga shared the sentiments after presenting to the UNDP-organised ”Addressing grievances and disputes from the Development Mineral” Capacity Building Workshop in Nadi

Catanasiga who presented on “Free, Prior, Informed Consent – A proactive approach to dealing with community grievances and disputes in extraction”  said while development stakeholders favour  a faster and more efficient approach to dealing with community grievances and disputes, this approach undermined the community’s right to decide on projects that could affect them adversely.

“Working to obtain Free, Prior and Informed Consent or FPIC is about involving communities the right way so that development can have a lasting and positive legacy for both communities and companies,” she said.

“FPIC is an intentional process that should avail to affected communities information on government, business or banks that are stakeholders in the project, project details in their preferred language as well as convening community discussions that involve everyone – including women, children, elders, non-indigenous neighboring settlements – to discuss project terms.”

She said using FPIC could be a proactive approach to dealing with community grievances arising from access to and utilisation of natural resources.

“So yes it may seem, a long and sometimes difficult process but ultimately as you mainstream FPIC into your approaches, you indirectly build communities’ sense of ownership into ensuring the success of the project because you have included them,” she said.

Catanasiga said FPIC is emerging as a best practice approach for people centred development around the world because it promotes the inclusion of all communities that will be affected by proposed development projects.

Fiji landowners query royalties

Luke Rawalai | The Fiji Times | 29 June 2018

WHILE Government has reassured resource owners that they will continue to receive 80 per cent of royalties from the use of their resources, landowners of Nawailevu, Bua, are still querying about funds promised to them for the mining of bauxite on their land.

Nawailevu landowning unit spokesman Waisale Kaidawa said they were still waiting for the royalties promised to them.

Mr Kaidawa said as owners of the land from which bauxite ores were being mined, they were still not clear on when they would receive these royalties.

“It is still not clear with us where these funds are and when it will be released to us,” he said.

“Government, in this year’s budget, needs to hold awareness to us on where this money has gone because we have projects awaiting funding from these royalties.

“It is only fair that resource owners like us get clarification on where this money is being used and how.

“To this day, we are still waiting for word on the Future Generation Funds that we were promised — no word has come to us.”

In his budget announcement last night, Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said 80 per cent of any royalties for any minerals mined from land and the seabed goes back to resource owners.

“Of course as introduced this year, 80 per cent of any royalties for any mineral resources mined on land and any seabed in Fiji goes straight back to resource owners,” he said.