Permenant Secretary for Minstry of Lands and Mineral Resources, Tevita Boseiwaqa (third from left) and Korea Resort Company chairman, Y G Chang (second from right). Photo: ARISHMA DEVI
By ARISHMA DEVI and SHEIK DEAN
A five-year development lease has been granted to Korea Resort Company Limited yesterday to set up their operation extracting mineral water for export.
This after a due diligence survey was conducted by the Minerals and Resources Department on the company’s project at the allocated site in Nadelei,Tavua.
The Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Lands and Minerals Resources Department, TevitaBoseiwaqa, said the company has been given a go head on their mineral water project.
“The company showed interest investing in the bottled water company, and they registered their interest with the department,” he said.
Mr Boseiwaqa said the company and the Mineral Resources Department together identified good water source for the project after a lot of discussion.
The project plans
Korea Resort Company chairman, Y.G. Chang, said the project is to export pure mineral Fijian water to designated markets.
He said the company, after tests and experiments, has constructed two bore holes at the site in Nadelai in Tavua which will be a source of extracting mineral water.
“We will operate according to the violability of the source that means if the bore hole produces 9.6 litres of water per second then we are ready to commercialise within the given period,” he said.
Mr Chang said the company will have an allocation of its own market which includes Korea, China, Indonesia and India.
“We will conduct a survey in the area for commercial industry next week after which we will display our factory set up plan,” he said.
Economic boost
Mr Boseiwaqa stressed given the development lease, the company is expected to be a major contributor in Fiji’s economy within a few years.
There will also be an employment opportunities for the people of Tavua at the site and the factory.
Mr Boseiwaqa also highlighted that within the given period, the company must come in to its operational phase as it will then approve of the long term lease for work to continue.