Suvavou villagers from Lami handed in their objections to the Suva City Council
Villagers of Suvavou in Lami have been told that the decision to construct an Indian Embassy at the Botanical Garden in Suva lies within the Local Government Ministry.
This comes after about 200 villagers brought more than two thousand signed letters objecting the land swap deal with the Indian government.
The land at the Botanical Garden in Suva
Three Yavusas and 11 Mataqalis overwhelmingly objected to the unilateral decision taken by the government to convert the site to accommodate the new Indian Government chancery.
Suvavou Village spokesperson, Joe Navara says they will continue pressing the issue.
“They have told us that the decision making for the yes and no to the construction of the Indian Embassy is with the local government what they will do is just write a covering letter and proposed to them to consider what we wanted”
Navara says the site to construct the proposed Embassy is the sacred burial ground of their forefathers and they don’t want any development to take place there.