Student urges rejection of Sigatoka iron-sands project
Natabua High School student Isabella Leqanidruaivalu says the proposed project threatens a river and heritage site central to her family’s roots.
Friday 23 October 2026 | 10:00
Natabua High School student Isabella Leqanidruaivalu
Photo: Supplied
Natabua High School Year 11 student Isabella Tanumi Vuladra Hosanna Leqanidruaivalu has urged the Department of Environment to reject Magma Mines’ Sigatoka Iron Sands Project (SPL 1495).
She said: “The Sigatoka River does not belong to a mining company”.
The Lautoka student made the appeal in a submission dated October 19 and addressed to the director of the Department of Environment.
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Her maternal grandmother, Mereadani Tanumi, is from Laselase village in Nasigatoka, Nadroga, while her father’s side of the family is from Mabula village on Cicia in Lau.
“Because of my roots, the Sigatoka River and its surrounding lands are not just spots on a map to me, they are part of who I am,” she wrote.
She said her family in Sigatoka depended on the river for fish, crab and mussels.
She feared dredging at the river mouth would smother coral reefs and kill fish in her family’s i qoliqoli.
She also warned that the project could alter the river’s flow and increase flood risks for nearby villages.
The student said mining could also damage the Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, which was established as Fiji’s first national park in 1989.
The park contains pottery more than 2,600 years old and one of the largest burial sites in the Pacific.
“Digging up 189.3 million tonnes of sand is not development—it will just destroy who we are,” she wrote.
She also questioned Fiji’s role as an ocean champion.
“We cannot claim to be global leaders in ocean conservation while allowing our own ecosystems to be ruined from the inside,” she wrote.
She said she took inspiration from Tui Nayau Ratu Tevita Mara, who champions the safekeeping of Fiji’s islands.
After high school, she hopes to become an environmentalist and a Climate Ocean Champion.
“I want my voice, no matter how small, to be heard,” she wrote.
