Page 12 - IB February 2025

Environment Environment

PARADISE LOST

EIGHT YEARS LATER, FREESOUL SITE STILL A MESS

Photos: Prerna Priyanka

By Aisha Azeemah of building an intimate and fully sustainable getaway to be
shared with other ocean lovers; a dream they now share with
A company found guilty of destruction on Malolo Island is Malolo Island local and the third owner of the plot in question,
still to rehabilitate the site, years after the judgement. Ratu Jona Joseva. This dream, however, hit an early roadblock
While the case against Freesoul Real Estate Development that continues nearly eight years later.
(Fiji) over destruction on Malolo Island was closed in 2022, In 2017, Freesoul, a company with ties to China, led by
the island and surrounding reef is yet to see any recovery, and directors Dick Peng and Ben Ma, began construction of its
Freesoul’s neighbours say they are still awaiting justice for own getaway; a multi-million dollar, 350 villa property. The
the destruction of their waterfront access. ambitious project reportedly attracted the attention of nearly
Meanwhile, Fiji’s Ministry of Environment says it is still 200 international private investors. After all, who wouldn’t
awaiting Freesoul’s rehabilitation plans for remediation of the want a piece of the dream Freesoul was selling?
areas the company damaged. The Freesoul site, once a picture of paradisaic beauty, now
stands cluttered with abandoned construction equipment
“They’ve been fined but they still got away with it rusting into the earth and sea. During a recent visit to
anyway” the site, Islands Business saw evidence of mass mangrove
A love for the ocean, a desire to be close to one of the clearing, blackened pools of tainted water, and abandoned
world’s most exhilarating surf breaks, and an appreciation construction waste that the surrounding vegetation appeared
for the simple life, were the perfect mix to bring Australians to be struggling to reclaim.
Navrin Fox and Woody Jack to a small corner of Malolo Island, In 2018, Fiji’s Department of Environment issued a notice
a hidden paradise in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands. The acquisition demanding Freesoul’s construction on Malolo Island be
of their own little piece of this paradise inspired their dream halted. Investigations found the company had conducted

12 Islands Business, February 2025