Access to clean water for drinking and bathing, and clean oceans and rivers are essential for Pacific Islanders. Pollution of our water and oceans can take away the basis of people’s livelihood, survival, and lifestyle. The negative cost of industrialisation, modernisation and unsustainable development has resulted in pollutants being deposited into our rivers and coastal areas.
In this legal bulletin we discuss the serious question of river pollution and how, in Fiji, pollution is regulated by legislation, the penalties and solutions available. We draw on the well known example from the Qawa river located in Labasa to illustrate the importance of this issue for all Fiji citizens, the traditional fishing rights holders, and the natural resources that we depend on.
Finally we consider New Zealand's recent and exciting legal development of granting the Whanganui river its own legal rights.