More than 300 villagers and 40 employees of River Tubing Fiji could have their livelihoods and daily access to essential services affected by continued gravel extraction along the Navua River, with the company warning that the river is becoming increasingly shallow upstream while the Ministry of Environment says it has identified extraction limits for dry and wet seasons.
The Ministry says the limits are among practical management measures identified following discussions with River Tubing Fiji and gravel extraction operators along the Navua River.
The response comes as River Tubing Fiji owner William Danford says the company's operations support the villages of Sabata and Nukusere, which have populations of close to 100 and more than 200 people respectively.
He says River Tubing Fiji takes tourists on a 17-kilometre boat journey upriver, with the two villages sharing the guests who visit on different days.
Danford says tourism provides an important source of income for the villagers alongside their farming activities, while the company also supports them through water projects, solar projects and flushing toilets.
He says the Navua River is essential to the daily lives of these communities, as villagers depend on it to transport their produce to markets, take children to school and travel to hospitals.
Danford says the river also supports the livelihoods of the company's 40 employees, while local people downstream use it for washing, fishing and other daily activities.
He is calling for gravel extraction to be temporarily stopped for a few months to allow the river to recover and water levels to improve with rainfall.
Danford stresses continued extraction downstream is making the upper sections of the river shallower, affecting boat operations and the ability of villagers to travel along the river.
He says the Navua River is not flat, but rises into the hills, with rapids involving climbs of about half a metre to one metre.
Danford says removing gravel downstream creates deeper sections in the river while water levels in the upper sections continue to fall.
Danford also alleges that some gravel extraction operators are breaching their approval conditions by crossing the river, leaving limited space for boats to manoeuvre, constructing roads into the water and allowing oil to spill into the river.
He says he has photographs and videos of alleged oil spills and is concerned about water quality, particularly for families who use the river.
Danford says he has raised concerns about gravel extraction for more than 20 years and believes communities upstream and downstream are not being properly consulted before extraction licences are issued.
He claims consultations are mainly held with landowners where gravel is extracted, rather than other communities affected by the activities.
While responding to questions by fijivillage News, the Environment Ministry says it acknowledges concerns about gravel extraction and its potential impacts on river-based tourism operations and surrounding communities, particularly during the current dry period.
They say concerns about gravel extraction and the shallowing of the river upstream have previously been raised by river-based tourism operators, including River Tubing Fiji, who are part of the Navua River community.
The Ministry says they recognise that low river levels during dry periods, including the current El Niño conditions, place additional pressure on the river system and says this has been taken into account in the management of extraction activities.
They say they are continuing to monitor all approved gravel extraction operations along the Navua River through compliance inspections conducted jointly with the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources.
The inspections involve site visits, assessments of compliance with approval conditions and consultations with relevant stakeholders.
The Ministry says enforcement action is taken under the Environment Management Act 2005, as amended, where instances of non-compliance are identified.
They have clarified that no stop-work orders have been issued to gravel extraction operators along the Navua River.
However, they say non-compliance notices have been issued where breaches of approval conditions were identified, and these remain in effect until operators satisfactorily address the issues and demonstrate compliance with the relevant approval requirements.
The Ministry says it remains committed to ensuring all gravel extraction activities comply with approved conditions and environmental safeguards, with appropriate enforcement action continuing under the EIA Regulations and the Environment Management Act.
