Volkswacht Bodensee - Fiji rejects Australian billionaire's 'Pacific ashtray' garbage plan

The plan to ship non-recyclable trash from across the region to Fiji -- popular with tourists for its pristine beaches -- and build an incinerator to consume 900,000 tonnes of waste a year had been labelled "waste colonialism" by villagers.

Fiji's ambassador to the UN, Filipo Tarakinikini, wrote on social media in April that the Vuda coast north of Nadi "must not become the Pacific's ashtray".

Billionaire Ian Malouf, partnered with Kookai label fashion entrepreneur Rob Cromb, had earlier claimed government support for the waste incinerator, which was to be built within 15km (9 miles) of Fiji's tourism gateway Nadi.

But Fiji's environment ministry said on Thursday it had rejected The Next Generation Holdings (TNG) proposal for the energy-from-waste plant and a private port because of issues surrounding the scale of the project, imported waste, hazardous ash management, and public health risks.

Questions over the impact on tourism and the environment, and the economic case for the project, were also unresolved in material submitted by the company, the ministry said.

"This is not a decision against investment or against new waste solutions," Fiji's secretary for the environment, Sivendra Michael, said in a statement.

"The department was not satisfied that the potential impacts and risks of the project could be adequately assessed or managed."

Malouf and Cromb told Fiji's government the project could meet 40 percent of the small country's electricity needs, cutting its reliance on diesel.

However, an environmental impact statement lodged showed it would also raise Fiji's national emissions by 25 percent.

Residents said the emissions would spoil Fiji's eco-tourism reputation and pose a safety risk with hotels and schools nearby.

"Dial-a-Dump" founder Malouf spent seven years trying to get a similar waste-to-energy incinerator approved in Sydney before it was rejected as a risk to human health in 2018.

Cromb, owner of the Paris fashion label Kookai, manufactures clothes in Fiji.

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Thursday he respected the decision to block the development, noting it had attracted strong public interest.

"Our environmental laws exist for a purpose. They ensure that major developments are tested carefully, transparently and on the evidence," he said in a statement, adding the government remains committed to waste management.

Michael told reporters TNG could not show it would import waste to Fiji lawfully, did not have consent from traditional landowners, and could not substantiate claims the plant would generate electricity more cheaply.

A waste-to-energy facility in Denmark was twice the size of that proposed for tiny Fiji, and not a suitable comparison, he added.

TNG had no immediate comment on the decision.

A.Kunz--VB