Transcript
SULUIMALO AMATAGA PENAIA: The sand mining that some people from the public were complaining about was actually through the normal legal process. They put in an application, we did our assessment and also the monitoring is still ongoing and this particular company is also doing the access road and also the seawall for the community, so they're actually physically and funding the whole project for the community. These are some of the excess sand that they are actually taking out and put the rocks there just to block the erosion from the seaside of the community.
JO O'BRIEN: The residents have been quoted as saying that the removal of sand is causing huge erosion problems, changes of currents, palm trees being uprooted. Your monitoring is not showing that?
SAP: What was given to me was actually photos, where they placed the rocks and where the coconut trees are. But I believe these were before the actually construction that is going on. What was happening before was the community was having their own arrangement with the company for the company to construct an access road because the community is actually moving inland, a few kilometres from the coast so they want access road towards the coast for them to go to. Now this company did that for them. We only came later when there were complaints they were mining sand and that is when we actually asked now you have to put in your official application for the sand for us to assess and that is when they put in another application for the construction of the seawall. So the community and the company provide all the rocks required for the construction and also the excess sand that is being trucked off because we have to place the rocks on those particular areas and that's the only excess sand that's being utilised by the company.
JOB: Are you saying that the problems that were occurring were before they had been given a permit?
SAP: We believe so.
JOB: So you're confident they are not taking more sand than they should now?
SAP: Yeah we are only giving them the permit for a certain allocation so we are trying to monitor and make sure they are sticking to what we are giving them the permit for.
JOB: You say that the company, Lady Elizabeth Constructions, they have entered into a partnership with the village leaders, is that right? How is that working?
SAP: The owner is also a member of the village. So that's their own partnership within the village. Now they have a member of the community who has a business. That person is actually assisting by coming in and doing this. If you understand how they construct seawalls, they have to remove the sand, put in the rocks, make sure the rocks sits properly so that's the extra sand they just take it to use.
JOB: And the seawall that's being built, that's quite important for that community?
SAP: It's very important because that's the only way the sea will not come and start eroding. They say there was some coconuts being eroded off. I guess that's the impact of climate change, so we are expecting something like that, and hopefully putting up that seawall will actually alleviate these issues of erosion.
