Coup-coup land - where not even the sand is sacred

Once again, fellow blogger Real Fiji News has uncovered another amazing tragedy in all that is wrong, illegal and unjust in Fiji today.

As the illegal and treasonous Bainimarama watches netball in Singapore and finds the time to oh-so-graciously fit in some duties of "state" by popping in to visit the deposed and ill PNG PM, Grand Chief Sir Micheal Somare, the vultures are already gearing themselves up to here to mine for ironsand.

Amex Resources Ltd (‘Amex’) recently tabled to the Australian Securities Exchange, its intent to mine this commodity which is a "simple flat lying blanket of fine to coarse vanadiferous titanomagnetite-bearing sand approximately 15 kilometres long by up to 4 kilometres
wide, located in a shallow lagoon at the mouth of the Ba River."

A copy of Amex's letter to the ASX is also available here.

Meanwhile landowners of Ba are still tussling with the impacts of what these mining projects will mean for them.

Majority of Ba land earmarked for mining
Sunday, July 03, 2011

75 per cent of the land in the Ba province has been earmarked for mining.

This was made known to tikina representatives of Ba by Department of Land officials.

The tikina representatives were showed a map of the Province – taken by the Ministry – indicating the pieces of land that have been marked for mining.

Ba Provincial Council Chairman –Ratu Meli Saukuru told FBC News - if 75 per cent of their land will be used for mining - they will have little land left for their source of income and for development works in the province.

Saukuru says a consultation will be held with stakeholders regarding the issue.

Magnetite mining is expected to be undertaken soon in Ba.

Report by: Epeli Tukuwasa