Page 14 - IB February 2025

Environment Environment

was ordered to pay a FJ$1 million fine and post a refundable cause further harm to the reef. We have to ensure the
environmental bond of FJ$1.4 million. But the damage was sedimentation is controlled and controlled permanently. And
done. then to also figure out their plans, if [Freesoul] will actually
While Jack, Fox, and Ratu Jona have consulted several be using that channel they dug out. Because if they have to
experts for ways to aid the rehabilitation of the affected use that channel, then they have to ensure that it’s done in a
ecosystem, there is little they can do while debris from the way that it can sustain the waves of the boat and things like
ill-fated construction lies rotting on the island. that.
“It’s kind of like they’ve been fined but still got away with “So, a lot of things need to be submitted to us before they
it anyway,” Jack said of the case’s current standing, “and not can carry out the rehabilitation to ensure this won’t be a
one of the people behind Freesoul have been investigated or band-aid solution,” Dr Michael shared.
prosecuted. We don’t know why.” In the meantime, the Environmental Impact Assessment
They are now awaiting a foreshore lease so they can regain relating to Freesoul’s project has been cancelled. Dr Michael
legal access to their land, and to travel to and from the island says it would not be re-issued until the rehabilitation process
as before. has been completed on all fronts, at which point the company
“We’ve had meetings with ministers, around November, a may apply for the approvals again.
year ago. So they said they’ve got no objections to us having
a foreshore lease. It went on, it was going well. And six Fiji tourism’s drive for sustainability
months later, it all just stopped. And we’re like, ‘What’s going While this case has been a blight on the tourism industry,
on?’ I said we should just wait, maybe it was fine, maybe Fiji has often led the region when it comes to sustainability
these processes just take time. But then...we were told initiatives, with many smaller eco-friendly projects making
Freesoul has an application as well for that land. So, they get big waves over the years.
prosecuted for ruining the land, and then they get the chance Tourism Fiji has taken a more direct role in guiding and
to get a lease over it. Something is not right here. engaging with new tourism projects from the ground up,
“And we’re like, ‘How? It’s in front of our land.’ So there ensuring fewer and fewer projects slip through the cracks in
was something that put our application on hold. So now we’re terms of proper process and risk environmental damage.
just trying to get that hold taken off. We just want legal “While this one [Freesoul] was before my time,” Tourism
access to our land again,” Jack said. “Once we have that, we Fiji CEO Brent Hill told Islands Business, “it is good to see the
can start thinking about our little eco resort again.” plan was halted and the company prosecuted.
“We never wanted to come to Fiji to wreck any of the “Sustainability should be at the heart of every new
environment,” Fox added. “We wanted to respect the project, and we have worked with Government consistently
environment and respect the Fijian people and their way of to advocate that upfront sustainability measures be put into
life. every new project,” he said.
“To have Freesoul set up next to us and then also do such “The good thing is that we and Investment Fiji, collectively,
destructive damage right in front of our property, not in front are engaging with as many of the new projects coming in to
of theirs, was very confronting. It was the polar opposite of Fiji as possible and that we’re aware of, and we consistently
what we wanted to do,” Fox continued. advocate for sustainability measures – renewable energy,
“It’s been eight years of fighting and pushing forward now, protecting the environment, reduction of plastic, waste
and we’ll keep pushing,” he said. management, water harvesting, etc.
“It’s so important that new projects bring this mentality
Avoiding a band-aid situation right from the get-go, as that enables us to continue to move
Responsibility for the island’s rehabilitation is officially forward sustainably,” Hill said.
in the hands of Fiji’s Ministry of Environment. According to For now, Jack, Fox, and Ratu Jona’s dreams for a small eco
Permanent Secretary Dr Sivendra Michael, Freesoul has paid resort seem mired in paperwork and red tape. There has been
its rehabilitation bond in full. little progress on their attempt to regain their waterfront
Dr Michael says that the court determined that the access, and a similar application from Freesoul is still on
rehabilitation on Malolo would not be considered complete the table, despite the damage the company caused. The Fiji
until it had been carried out to the satisfaction of the Government awaits Freesoul’s full rehabilitation plans. And
Ministry of Environment. The Ministry now awaits updated the abandoned machinery on Malolo Island continues to
rehabilitation plans from Freesoul. rot.
“There are two types of rehabilitation works required,”
Dr Michael told Islands Business in a recent interview. “One *Freesoul Real Estate Development (Fiji) PTE Limited Director
is the Mangrove Management Plan, and the other one is the Dick Peng and shareholder Ben Ma could not be reached for
Infrastructure Coastal Rehabilitation Plan. comment as all publicly listed contacts for the company appear
“Now, there are a lot of moving parts here, particularly to be disconnected and unavailable.
with the second plan, which includes dealing with the reef
damage. Because we have to make sure the plan doesn’t

14 Islands Business, February 2025