A representative of Freesoul Real Estate Development(Fiji) PTE Ltd who are charged with one count of undertaking unauthorized developments and one count of failure to comply with a prohibition notice under the Environment Management Act 2005 appeared in the Nadi Magistrates Court today.
Saula Sovanivalu, who is the Project Officer, appeared on behalf of the company.
The state served the disclosures and sought time to serve further disclosures.
The case has been adjourned to 26th April.
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.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Environment, Dr. Mahendra Reddy had earlier confirmed that the resort that is under construction on Malolo Island in the Mamanuca Group has violated the terms of its development.
The case was filed for prosecution to the Office of DPP in September 2018.
The Department's involvement with the Malolo Island project began on June 15th, 2017, when the company lodged their environmental impact assessment screening application with the intent to build a new resort.
The Department says as a condition of the approval, the company was given a number of very stringent conditions to fulfill before works were to begin on site, and all foreshore development works were not permitted.
Doctor Reddy says these conditions have been breached.
