By RANOBA BAOA
Although mining is not a new subject for Fiji, specific framework structures and reforms need to be looked into by policymakers, says an Australian licensed financial advisor.
Raj Prasad, a licensed financial advisor, public accountant and mortgage consultant expert advisor, made these comments yesterday on day one of the three-day Pacific Conference on Finance and Investment.
The conference is organised by the Fiji National University’s College of Business, Hospitality & Tourism Studies and is being held at the Nasinu campus.
Mr Prasad said the mining framework structure needs to be right.
“By that I mean that Government must put the legislation to protect the community first,” he said.
“And that legislation not only means the legislation to guide the mining corporations, but the supervisory framework under which the mining companies will operate has to be in place.”
Australian example
Mr Prasad provided examples with the Australian mining industry that while it had been a huge success, the benefits did not fully trickle down to the people involved.
“Australia has one which has to go through before mines are approved but I think the legislative framework in Australia is not that strong,” he said.
“And in Australia the word is a political framework but not a legislative framework and sometimes legislations are developed for political reasons.
“Because most mining capabilities are not available (in Australia), the direct gains from mining investment is low.”
Develop framework
Mr Prasad said this was despite the availability of mining technology and support services.
“Therefore, in Fiji, a legislative framework that forces accountability to corporations that come into mining must be put in place,” he said.
“The other thing is we need to have is a proper environmental impact study and those studies should be done by and carried forward by independent personnel.”
Mining not new: Reddy
Dean of FNU’s College of Business, Hospitality & Tourism Studies, Dr Mahendra Reddy, said: “Mining is not new to Fiji; we have done it for a number of years.
“What we are doing now is looking at other areas such as bauxite and copper mining,” he said.
“What we need to do is to pick up those issues particularly the issues from the pail and dumping and improve this so there are no downstream and negative effects.”
Benefits for all
Additionally, Dr Reddy noted that in order to ensure that the sector benefits all, a reserve like the one Mr Prasad had proposed needed to be established.
“We need to have regulations in place before a mining company comes in because then you sign an agreement based on that particular regulation,” he said.
“At the moment while more companies are coming in, we need to fill in the gaps of our legislation, fix it so that the new ones coming in will be subjected to the new legislation.
“It is a good and very realistic paper and it gives food for thought including the policy makers.”