Court filings deepen Banaba mining dispute as trust fund questions grow

Court filings in Fiji have brought new clarity but also deeper dispute over proposed resource extraction on Banaba Island.

The latest legal evidence, seen by PMN News, shows conflicting accounts between community groups, the Rabi Administration, and the Office of the Fiji Prime Minister.

At the centre of the case is a proposal to restart pinnacle extraction on Banaba, the ancestral homeland of the Banaban people, which lies within Kiribati’s sovereign territory.

Banaba is a small island in western Kiribati that was heavily mined for phosphate during the colonial era, forcing many Banaban people to relocate to Fiji's Rabi Island after the Second World War.

Although the High Court ruling in Fiji was delivered in December last year, the dispute has intensified in recent weeks as community groups challenge renewed discussions around resource extraction while the court-ordered audit records remain outstanding.

The Rabi District Council of Social Services (Rabi DCOSS) has strongly opposed the plan, saying it is being used to distract from long-running financial concerns linked to the Banaban Trust Fund.

The group says renewed discussions around mining have heightened concerns because court-ordered audit records relating to the Banaban Trust Fund have yet to be released.

In response, the Rabi Administration has told the High Court in Suva that no mining project has been finalised or executed, and that any proposal involving Australian company Centrex Limited has been paused.

Representing the Rabi Council of Leaders, lawyer Vinisoni Filipe told the court that the proposed project “had been placed on hold following objections” from the community to allow further consultation.

Banabans celebrating World Indigenous Day 2023. Rabi Island leaders and civil society groups have raised concerns over proposed mining discussions on Banaba. Photo: International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD)

Rabi Administrator Iakoba Karutake has previously said exploring mining options was not an act of corruption but a way to assess possible income sources for the council.

He said earlier engagement with the mining company formed part of preliminary discussions.

He had also sought what he described as a “goodwill payment” from Centrex Limited to demonstrate commitment to the Banaban community.

But evidence filed by the Office of the Fiji Prime Minister, which oversees the Rabi Administrator’s appointment, states that there is no active agreement in place.

Filipe Bainimoli, a Senior Planning Officer, told the court that “there was no record of any executed agreement between the Rabi Administrator and Centrex Limited".

Banaba Island remains at the centre of a long-running debate over resource extraction, as new court filings reveal competing legal positions over a proposed mining project and the management of the Banaban Trust Fund. Photo/Supplied

The affidavit further noted that while a proposal was received in 2022, Fiji’s Department of Mineral Resources and Department of Environment requested further environmental information, which was never provided by the company.

It stated that “the matter did not proceed further".

The competing legal positions come as Banaban leaders continue to debate how to address financial pressures facing the Banaban Trust Fund without reopening one of the Pacific's most environmentally damaged islands.

The legal filings also highlight the limits of jurisdiction in the case of Banaba Island, which is located within Kiribati territory.

The High Court has previously ruled that matters relating to land and resource governance on Banaba fall under Kiribati’s jurisdiction, meaning Fiji's courts cannot compel decisions on land use or resource extraction there.

Kiribati has not publicly commented on the dispute but has treated it as a matter for Fiji's domestic governance while maintaining its sovereignty over Banaba.

Meanwhile, Rabi DCOSS has called for all mining discussions to be suspended until a full independent forensic audit of the Banaban Trust Fund is completed and made public.

“Our ancestral land on Banaba has already suffered more than a century of devastating phosphate mining that left our people displaced,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“To suggest destroying what remains of our pinnacle structures to cover up modern administrative corruption and missing public funds is an insult to our history and our survival.”

The Office of the Rabi Administrator has been contacted for comment on the allegations, the status of the mining proposal, and the delayed release of audit documents.