Landowners raise concerns over excessive penalties in water wellhead regulation 2019 A meeting called by the Ministry of Infrastructure with landowners of
the more than 30 water bores around the island was held this morning. Various concerns were raised at the meeting. Landowners were concerned at the existing law which prescribes penalties of up to $50,000 for individuals who breach the law or a maximum 10,000 penalty points or $1 million for organizations and corporations breach of the law or 20 years imprisonment for breach of the law. Landowners were concerned about the inconsistency of payments of lease
payments and asked for an increase in the annual lease payments. Landowners said they had signed contracts for $400 per year for the use
of their land. However landowners were disappointed when they went to collect
their payment they only received $380 because the government had taken a fee of
$20. One landowner had not received any payments in over 10 years.
ADB to assist Niue on wharf development An Asian Development Bank team is
currently conducting a Pre-Feasibility study on developing Alofi Wharf
till the 18th of October. The objectives of the visit is to assess the rationale for a port investment in Niue, taking into account existing and expected traffic and quality and size of current infrastructure. To develop strategic development options on the basis of forecast and infrastructure needs in the short/ medium and long term and a phased implementation strategy, for discussion with the government of Niue. To facilitate agreement between the government of Niue and ADB on the recommended option and key areas of technical analyses to be undertaken and completed in the next phase of the feasibility study ,undertaken in a separate contract. The team has been consulting with stakeholders last
week. A presentation of the proposed solutions, based on the feedback provided to date was done at Matavai resort today. This was the first of many consultations directed at those that will have operations directly impacted by the options put forward.