Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Lenora Qereqeretabua has publicly opposed the proposed Saweni waste-to-energy project, warning that the development may breach Fiji’s regional environmental commitments and signalling a potential rift within government ranks over the initiative.
In a social media post shared this week, Qereqeretabua said she was prepared to oppose the project “at the cost of my job, and with no support from my party,” and urged that the proposal be measured against Fiji’s obligations under the Waigani Convention. “The Waigani Convention is clear: Fiji agreed not to become a dumping ground for hazardous waste and to manage its own waste within its borders. We are bound to uphold that principle in both law and intent,” she wrote, noting that Fiji signed the convention in 1995 and ratified it in April 1996 — years before it entered into force in 2001. “These dates matter because they reflect a long-standing commitment by Fiji to uphold strong environmental safeguards and regional responsibility,” she added.
Qereqeretabua’s intervention is the most prominent by a serving government official since public debate over the Saweni proposal intensified. Environmental groups and local community members have already been vocal in raising concerns about potential health, pollution and ecological impacts of a large-scale waste processing facility near Suva. Her public stance brings an international legal framing to those concerns, arguing that any large-scale waste-processing development must be scrutinised against regional instruments rather than treated as optional.
Beyond reiterating the Waigani obligations, Qereqeretabua pressed practical questions about the project’s planning, including whether builders or contractors had already been identified, and whether environmental, health and legal safeguards are being adequately considered. She warned that developments that may involve transboundary or hazardous wastes require careful assessment “not treated as optional or outdated.”
Her comments could complicate the project’s pathway if they prompt further legal or diplomatic scrutiny. The Waigani Convention — formally titled the Waigani Convention on the Prohibition of the Importation into Forum Island Countries of Hazardous and Radioactive Wastes and on the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within the South Pacific Region — prohibits the export of hazardous wastes to Pacific island nations and obliges parties to manage hazardous wastes within their own territories. Qereqeretabua’s reminder of Fiji’s long-standing signature and ratification underlines how international obligations can become central to domestic planning disputes.
The Saweni waste-to-energy proposal has already been contested in public fora, with environmental advocates calling for more transparency, robust environmental impact assessments and community consultation. Qereqeretabua’s statement is likely to add momentum to those calls while also testing intra-government cohesion, given her acknowledgement of lacking party backing.
Details about the Saweni project’s timeline, contractual arrangements and the government’s formal position were not included in Qereqeretabua’s post. It remains unclear whether project proponents have secured builders or financiers, or when the government intends to make formal approvals public. The emergence of a senior official’s public opposition represents the latest development in an evolving debate that now touches on legal commitments, environmental safeguards and political fault lines.