Dear Mr Prime Minister - please save our little fishes

from w.
in today's Fiji Times
It's so strange these days that every grievance goes to the military - pollution and bad company practice regarding the environment - well, it's been going on for years, and no-one ever does much about it. Anyway, someone near Malau Timber Mill has written a letter to the self-appointed Prime Minister. My word, won't be be busy answering all these letters. Some complain about neighbours/colleagues/spouses. At least this one from Labasa ought to be answered by some-one! I would like to hear FFI's response to the complaint.

Certainly there is pollution in the waters off Labasa and people also throw things overboard from boats between Mali Island and the mainland. When I walked along the shore west of Nukutatava I noticed rubbish caught up in the mangroves. Isa lei, it should be a pristine shore environment.

I've written in an early post about the pollution caused by the Labasa Sugar Mill in the Qawa River and the science students of All Saints Secondary have been monitoring the situation.

Landowners seek PM's intervention
1205 FJT
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Update: 12.05pm A landowning unit has sought the intervention of the interim Prime Minister to stop a timber company from killing their marine resources. The landowners from Malau, outside Labasa town, claim Fiji Forest Industries has been spilling chemicals into the sea nearby, resulting in the death of fish, seashells and other marine life they depend on for their survival.

The landowners say they had written to Prime Minister, Commander Voreqe Bainimarama, requesting his intervention in the matter. They claim the issue had been raised with the relevant authorities during the past eight years but nothing had been done about it.

The landowners are hopeful Commander Bainimarama will address their grievance.

The chief executive officer in the Prime Minister's office is in a meeting and will not be available to comment until later this afternoon.

Questions have been sent to FFI for their comment.