Landowners in Vuda and Saweni will this week formally hand a letter of opposition to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in a last-ditch effort to halt plans for a proposed waste-to-energy power plant in Vuda valued at $1.4 billion. The move, led by the tokatoka o Wadigi, brings together several chiefly landowners, including the Tui Vuda, Ratu Eparama Tavaiqia, and Taukei Vidilo, Ratu Wiliame Bauwalu, who have signed the letter.
Wadigi clan headman Apimeleki Nasalo said the delegation respected the government’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process but felt compelled to take their concerns directly to the nation’s leader. “This is about our livelihood and our future generations,” Nasalo told reporters, adding that the group had been learning about potential environmental impacts and did not want the project on their land. He said Tui Vuda’s endorsement, received last Friday, had strengthened the collective voice of the landowners.
The planned presentation to the Prime Minister follows a residents’ meeting last Saturday hosted by the Protect Our Heritage Coast Committee in Vuda, where opponents urged government to reject the proposal. Committee chairperson Paul Forrest said the project raised “multiple red flags requiring urgent attention,” and accused developers of underplaying the scale of potential environmental and social impacts.
As part of its campaign, the committee has organised a protest march through Lautoka City scheduled for this Friday. During the march, residents intend to present a petition opposing the power plant — which the organisers say has been signed by more than 8,000 people — to officers from the Department of Environment. The petition and the planned delivery to the department aim to place public pressure on officials overseeing the EIA and any subsequent decisions.
Local leaders emphasised that their objections are not an outright rejection of renewable or alternative energy initiatives but centre on the siting, scale and potential effects of this particular project on coastal resources, fishing grounds and community health. Nasalo framed the campaign as safeguarding resources for future generations and protecting customary land rights that are central to Vuda and Saweni communities.
This week’s letter to the Prime Minister and the Lautoka protest mark the latest visible escalation in community opposition to the Vuda plant. Organisers say their next steps depend on responses from both the Prime Minister’s office and the Department of Environment. No official government reply to the planned delivery of the letter or the petition has been released.
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