Residents of the Vuda–Saweni Corridor yesterday installed a prominent community billboard opposing the proposed waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerator planned for Naikorokoro Point, marking the latest visible sign of local resistance to the project. The sign, organisers said, was a community effort: donated by Peter and Belinda Guyot of Pacific Island Art, designed by a local resident and installed by Richard of Superb Advertising & Signs.
The initiative went ahead with the consent of the Tokatoka Wadigi, whose leader Apimeleki Nasalo approved use of the site for the billboard, residents said. Volunteers involved in the installation described the display as more than a protest placard — a symbol of a community speaking with one voice. “We know the whole community is behind us,” one volunteer said, adding that the billboard was “one just way that they got to express that today.”
Organisers framed the installation as an expression of grassroots unity rather than a one-off stunt. In a statement, the residents’ group said the billboard reflected a united community voice and had been made possible through collective effort. They said the sign will remain as a visible reminder of local opposition to the proposed WtE plant at Naikorokoro Point and to encourage further public engagement in decisions about waste management in the area.
The billboard is the latest development in a broader, ongoing public conversation in Fiji about how to handle rising volumes of waste. National and local organisations have in recent months pushed for alternatives to landfilling, while raising concerns about hazardous waste and safety in recycling streams. The Pacific Recycling Foundation and other activists have campaigned for more sustainable, safer approaches, arguing that community consent and environmental safeguards must accompany any new waste infrastructure.
While proponents of waste-to-energy technologies often argue such facilities can reduce landfill dependence and generate power, opponents in Vuda–Saweni have raised questions about environmental impacts, transparency in planning and whether local communities have been properly consulted. Yesterday’s billboard does not itself change planning processes but organisers said it was intended to make community sentiment highly visible to authorities and developers considering the Naikorokoro Point proposal.
Residents did not outline immediate next steps after the billboard installation, but described the effort as part of continuing community mobilisation. The involvement of local businesses and traditional leaders in erecting the sign underscores the mixed civic strands now engaged in the debate over the proposed incinerator, and signals that further public scrutiny and local organising could follow as plans for Naikorokoro Point progress.
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