Princes Rd apartment construction will not resume unless issues identified are remedied - Nalumisa

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.