The Director of Environment, Sandeep Singh who is the third prosecution witness in the trial of Freesoul Real Estate(Fiji) PTE Limited told the court that despite being instructed in a letter from the Permanent Secretary that they cannot continue any construction at the site, Freesoul continued to carry out the works.
Singh says they did not approve any foreshore development work for Freesoul on 24th December 2018.
She says only conditional land based construction was approved.
When questioned by DPP lawyer, Shelyn Kiran, Singh said the Permanent Secretary for Environment, Joshua Wycliffe along with the Director Lands and other stakeholders went to inspect the project site in 2018.
Singh says after the inspection, Wycliffe wrote a letter to the owner of Freesoul, Dickson Peng saying that they cannot continue any construction at the site as there was a prohibition notice in place and 20 of the 55 conditions under that conditional approval were not complied by them.
According to Singh, Wycliffe mentioned in the letter that workers could stay at the site as it was their land but did not allow any construction.
Singh told the court that she disagreed with the Permanent Secretary that workers be allowed to stay on the land while they carried out work on Solevu Village in Malolo.
She says despite the letter, Freesoul continued the construction on the site.
The trial continues before Suva Magistrate, Seini Puamau.
The charges against Freesoul relate to the failure to comply with a Prohibition Notice issued by the Director of Environment in June 2018 and carrying out on resort development activity in Malolo without an approved Environmental Impact Assessment Report.
Under the Environment Management Act 2005, if convicted, the company and its directors face fines of up to $750,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.
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