Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and the Leader of the National Federation Party, Professor Biman Prasad has today stressed that the government stands by the approved parliamentary motion stating the Pacific Ocean should not be seen as an easy and convenient dumping ground for unwanted and dangerous materials and waste including nuclear wastewater that other larger nations produce and do not want to use in their own ecosystem.
While calls continue for Fiji and the regional partners to reject Japan’s plan to discharge the treated Fukushima nuclear wastewater starting from as early as tomorrow, Professor Prasad says everyone including the Prime Minister have agreed to the motion.
Professor Prasad says there will be differing opinions as to the degree of the impact but as a government and a parliament, that motion expressed deep concern about the dumping of any kind of waste including nuclear waste in the Pacific.
While moving the motion in parliament earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister, Manoa Kamikamica said the Fijian government reaffirms its opposition to Japan’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, saying that the region is not a dumping ground for countries like Japan to release its nuclear waste.
Kamikamica said that we, as the Pacific, cannot continue to be the dumping ground for the bigger nations.
He said the social and economic impact of this irresponsible behaviour is catastrophic, particularly on our vulnerable communities.
Kamikamica said if Japan’s decision to discharge its treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific is so safe, why can’t they use it in their own farms, and in their own country.
SOURCE: fijivillage
