Landowners in bid to resolve dispute

Fiji Times - Friday, July 16, 2010

ONE of the landowning units embroiled in a dispute regarding the sand dunes in Sigatoka has revealed that all parties are working towards resolving the issue.

Aseri Kunawave, spokesman for Mataqali Navatanitawake in Cuvu, said sale of fine sand was expected to soon resume from the Sigatoka quarry as talks between all parties concerned had progressed.

"We are working together towards resolving our differences. Our main issue was the fact that middlemen were making money out of us. They were buying the sand for $15 per cubic metre and re-selling it at a larger price. What we have decided now is to have a pricing structure, which we are currently working out with NLTB and other industry stakeholders," he said.

Mr Kunawave said the landowners had now decided that all transactions would be carried out direct with project owners and would not involve middlemen.

"We want the people building to come direct to us-homeowners or building project developers, we have to remove middle men, because they have been stealing from us," he said.

The sale of fine sand from the dunes in Sigatoka was brought to a close in May this year by the NLTB because the extraction licence expired last October and no attempt was made for a renewal.