News

Businesses oppose proposed Asphalt Plant project

January 13, 2021 4:45 pm

Proposed Asphalt Plant project.

Business houses and residents in the Laucala Beach Industrial area, in Suva, have raised concerns on the building of a proposed Asphalt Plant project.

A second public review meeting was held today on the proposed project by Higgins Fiji Limited in the presence of Ministry of Environment officials.

The petition was signed by 565 people who are concerned with the pollution and environmental impact from the plant.

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Majority of the businesses around the proposed site are food processing companies and their concern is that if pollution levels increase, they could be in danger of losing their health certification and accreditation.

The concerned petitioners say while they do not oppose the investment by the company, they think the chosen site is not appropriate.

Permanent Secretary for Environment, Joshua Wycliffe, says all the views will be taken into consideration before a decision is made by the Environment Ministry.

“We will take the inputs provided by the community today and the director will look at each one of those inputs thoroughly and if she needs to make further reviews she might consult the expert panel. There is an expert panel already in place, so she might discuss with them to find out what these impacts are and how we can look into that.”

Higgins Fiji has appointed Argo Environmental Limited to carry out an Environment Impact Assessment on proposed project.