Fiji, Kiribati urged to stop phosphate exploration process on Banaba island

A spokesperson in a village on Rabi island is urging the Fiji and Kiribati governments to stop an exploration process led by an Australian mining company to extract the remaining phosphate on Banaba island.

Rabi is home to many Banabans.

On 15 August, the Rabi Council of Leaders' administrator, Iakoba Jacob Karutake sent a letter to Centrex Ltd managing director Robert Mencel approving the company's request for exploration citing the proposal had gone through "prominent members of the community".

However, Tabwewa chairman Toanuea Taratai said neither the Banaban community on Rabi island nor Banaba itself were ever consulted.

Taratai said intervention from both governments was needed much sooner rather than later.

"We need to halt all the process that is undergoing now, before it is too late, before they make an agreement on the next stage, and I think while it is at the early stage we need to stop everything - make a halt to it."

RNZ Pacific had contacted Karutake for comment following Taratai's concerns but he did not respond.

In a recent Facebook post however, Karutake said the proposal had now been "put on hold" and that he would "discuss with the community" upon his return from Tarawa, Kiribati.

The response from the Banaban community towards Centrex's exploration proposal and Karutake's letter has been met with fierce opposition.

Taratai said the situation was worrying.

"This is a great concern for us," he said.

"We are crying out to our community in the South Pacific, in Rabi, Kiribati and Banaba that we should hold hands and unite - for the benefit of the people."

The Banabans of today said the grief and trauma from the phosphate mining projects during the early 1900s is still present among their community. The decades-long extractive practice resulted in mass relocation of Banabans to Fiji's Rabi island in 1945.

In an online petition, the authors stated the proposal by Centrex to re-mine Banaba "is not the answer" as it further puts their lands, seas, identities and dignity at stake.

Speaking to RNZ Pacific, Mencel said Centrex's approach was much different than what was carried out in Banaba from the previous century.

"We are a publicly listed company, we operate to the highest standards, we will only operate in an area where we are welcomed," he said.

Mencel said Centrex engaged solely with the Rabi Council of Leaders in the past fours years before the request for exploration was approved.

He said he was aware that the proposal had been put on hold, however when asked if the project would completely stop if there was a revocation, he said the matter lay with the council.

"You obviously can't go ahead unless you've got the Rabi council leaders who are responsible for the administration of Banaba's permission."

When asked if that had been put into writing, Mencel maintained his stance.

"We wouldn't want to be there if we were not welcomed," he said.

"The Rabi council is the representative body and that's who we're dealing with."

In an interview with The Market Herald Mencel said Banaba had a "chequered history of mining and exploitation and were naturally concerned" when they were first approached.

RNZ Pacific asked Mencel twice if he thought about Centrex possibly 're-exploiting and re-traumatising' the Banaban community, he said this particular development would be beneficial for landowners.

"We believe that we would only operate in that area once we fully informed everyone about what we intended to do and the benefits and then allow them to make that decision," he said.

"We believe really that this is a situation where it's good for, or potentially good for, the traditional landowners and that we can rehabilitate previously disturbed areas that should have been rehabilitated earlier and give them a landscape that they can utilise."

Mencel said the Kiribati government was well aware of the proposal but were yet to issue an exploration license until there was a definitive decision from the Rabi council.