Dead Fish and Eels Found in Sabeto River

People who depend on the Sabeto River in Nadi for their survival have been warned to refrain from swimming, washing, fishing or gathering food from there until told otherwise by relevant authorities.

This follows the discovery of dead fish and eels since last week.

Footage has been circulated on social media platforms.

The cause of the contamination incident happened last Thursday evening between 7pm and 11pm a fter a mining company reportedly discharged some water from its pond that contained slightly higher than usual copper levels.

Lion One Metals Limited chief operations officer Patrick Hickey acknowledged that the incident was caused by human error as a result of a verbal miscommunication between its mill operation team and environmental department.

"Some species of fish in the areas of the mine are particularly susceptible to copper. The tilapia fish were generally unaffected," Mr Hickey said.

"The impact was limited to the SML (special mining lease) boundary, and we have not seen any impact further downstream than our boundary. Lion One has prided itself on its commitment to the environment and the safety of its employees."

Concerns raised on livelihood

Korobebe Village headman Rovate Navilalutu said he was alerted last Friday about the issue by the mine manager.

"I informed the village that no one is to use the river for bathing, washing, and even catching fish in the river," he said.

"On Saturday, I saw footage that there were dead fish in the river.

Some from the villagers did pick, cook, and ate it at their homes.

"Next time I hope the mine manager would clearly inform us of the full story and advise us not to eat the dead fish. Today is Monday and a lot of fish is still dead in there."

Mr Navilalutu added that they had been living in that area for many years, including at their old Nadele Village site.

"This pains me a lot, as I have been living here. The colour of the water has been different, and a few species of river shells are no more. Therefore, we urge the Government to look at this issue and make sure the way the mine discharges its waste is in the best interest of the people and its community," he said.

Fiji Council of Social Services executive director Vani Catanasiga said, "I hope the assessment undertaken by the environment can be used as a basis for holding whichever development stakeholder responsible for this degradation to account and to ensure that communities are adequately protected and compensated for loss of livelihood and food source."

A statement issued for the Vanua o Betoraurau shared similar sentiments and urged its villagers and residents of the greater Sabeto area to refrain from fishing or swimming in the Sabeto River.

MECC alerts, responds

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC) said it received a formal complaint on Saturday night regarding alleged hazardous substances being redirectly leased into the Sabeto River, affecting marine species.

In response, the ministry promptly mobilised a team of officers to investigate the matter early Sunday.

"In such cases, several parameters of water testing are required; however, this could not be done on Sunday due to the closure of the registered testing facilities," a statement from the ministry said.

The team made contact with Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) and members of the affected community using details provided in the complaint to attend to the issue early yesterday.

The ministry is currently conducting a comprehensive testing to identify the precise point source of contamination. Simultaneously, consultations with the respective village elders were conducted.

Lion One apologises

Lion One Metals Ltd has apologised and assured that this would not happen again and all communications in the future would be in writing within their departments.

"We, and I am doing all I can to make sure that nothing of this nature will happen again in the future," Mr Hickey said.

"We confirm our sincere apologies for what has transpired that has put the name of the vanua in this manner to the nation of Fiji," he said.

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