Page 15 - IB April 2021

Guest Opinion

Continued from page 6 March asking for an update. Again, no response. I waited for
a month, and in April I requested again for an update on the
creation to respect and protect those that are older than us. case. Still no acknowledgement from the boss of the Environ-
This homily confirmed for me what I have always believed; ment department in Lautoka, whose jurisdiction covered the
that we can see the hand of God in everything. And that Mamanucas and the Yasawa group, an area saturated with
the joy and the peace I draw from the island is from God. It hotels. And here I was thinking that this government has done
doesn’t matter how dreadful my day at the office has been, so much to lift the service delivery of the civil service. On the
whether I’ve had to deal with a difficult guest, if I’ve had to 13th of July, I contacted MP Lenora Qereqeretabua to assist
terminate a staff member, or if I’ve clashed with the resort me get through the blank wall at the department. Lenora
owner, the island is able to lift me from the depths of my promptly raised the matter directly with Joshua Wycliffe, the
misery and raise me to heaven. All I need to do is walk. 15 director of environment. He finally responded on the mat-
minutes is all it takes, and my spirit is at peace. ter saying the department had advised Nanuya Island Resort
So imagine my horror on Wednesday January 9th 2019, to stop any further dumping of sewage, and asked them via
whilst returning to the resort after the afternoon off with e-mail if they could be so kind as to rehabilitate the area
friends, I find the resort owner, Mr. Ivan Parker on his excava- encompassing the sewage dump.
tor digging a pit outside the resort boundary. My heart sank, I wrote back to the Director of Environment to register my
as I knew straight away what was going down. Two weeks disgust at their leniency, and again outlined the actions com-
prior, we were having an issue with a foul smell permeating mitted by Nanuya Island Resort. Firstly, there was no waste
the resort. The resort had been fully booked over the Christ- disposal permit. Secondly, it is altogether illegal to dump un-
mas period, and the engineers had said that the sewage sys- treated sewage, and thirdly, the dump was done outside the
tem was unable to process all the sewage. The sewage system lease boundary. Parker pumped sewage out of the resort lease
had been built when the resort was much smaller. Mr. Harvey boundary and into Native land. And the place he chose to
Sofield, the independent waste management consultant we dump was about 20 metres away from the beach. This sewage
engaged, clearly outlined in his report to management that a will eventually filter out into this pristine blue lagoon and do
bailout was needed ASAP. A bailout involved getting in a sew- irreparable damage. I am still waiting for Mr. Joshua Wycliffe
age truck to the island to siphon raw sewage in the chamber to get back to me.
down to a level where the bacteria is again able to function This nation’s riches are a gift to us from the earth, and ulti-
and break down the sewage to safe levels, before It is then mately from God. We must look after the environment that is
pumped into the secondary filter. He said in his report that responsible for keeping this nation afloat. Now that this gov-
the STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) was so heavily saturated ernment has been humbled by this global pandemic, it is my
with solids that it was acting more like an overloaded indus- hope that when this huge tourism wheel starts spinning again,
trial septic tank. What I was now witnessing was Mr. Parker’s the government gives the environment the respect due, that
total disregard of this report and the bypassing both the crimes committed against the environment are dealt with
primary and the secondary filters and dumping of raw septic fairly and equitably.
waste straight into native reserve. I haven’t gone back to Nanuya since the incident. Not
That night I knew that a direct confrontation was danger- even to visit my relatives in Enedala village. I can’t face the
ous. My only option was to threaten the maintenance crew island. I still carry with me the shame of what happened. I am
who were helping him. My effort was for naught, as no one ashamed to set foot on Nanuya Sewa, for she would recognise
had the courage to cross him. Everyone was worried about me as the person best placed to defend her and yet I failed.
keeping their jobs. I told the General Manager that this was We have all failed her. The villagers have failed her, the land-
unacceptable, but he chose to side with the owner. I returned owners have failed her, the nation and this government have
to the beach, sat down with my head hung in shame, my heart failed her. She is healing right now. I know she is recovering.
shattered into a million pieces, as I tried to process this mad- Bewildered perhaps and aggrieved that a species she loved,
ness. My entire being screamed for a reaction, but as man- nourished, and comforted in her bosom is capable of inflict-
ager, my hands were tied. It felt as if someone had punched ing such senseless pain. I am reminded of the words of the
me in the guts, leaving me struggling for air. I couldn’t sleep French-Canadian thinker and astrophysicist Hubert Reeves
that night. The next morning, I told the GM that I couldn’t who said “Man is the most insane species. He worships an
work, and walked across to Enedala to get away from all of invisible God and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this
this. I came back to the resort a day later and they were still nature he’s destroying is the God he’s worshipping.”
pumping sewage. In the ensuing dispute, I put my ultimatum,
that if this issue was not corrected, I would resign and report Islands Business sought a response from Nanuya Island
the matter to the Department of Environment. Mr. Parker did Resort.
not back down. This is an abridged version of Timoci Tuiqali’s article and
I lodged the complaint with the department of environment was edited for space. The full version can be read on the
in Lautoka in February 2019. I had two meetings with the Islands Business website.
Senior Environment Officer. I provided all the documentation
she requested, and she did nothing. I sent her an e-mail in editor@islandsbusiness.com

Islands Business, April 2021 15