GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT APPROVES MASTER PLAN FOR YAQARA STUDIO CITY

December 6, 2004

The Master Plan for the Yaqara Studio City was approved this week by the Department of Town and Country Planning.

The completion of the approvals process by the Deaprtment was announced today by Yaqara Group Limited, holders of the exclusive development rights for the Yaqara Studio City.

Master Town Planner and Urban Designer for the project, John Achari, said, "We are absolutely delighted to announce that all the approvals required by the Department of Town and Country Planning for the Master Plan for the Yaqara Studio City have now been attained and this long awaited green light will allow the Company to proceed with the project's First Stage development plan next year" he said.

"The Yaqara Group Limited team has been working in close contact with the Department for a number of years to achieve this outcome," he said.

"We are extremely grateful for their diligence and hard work especially in view of the recent surge in development projects currently taking place in Fiji, putting an ever larger stretch on the Department's already limited resources," said Mr Achari.

Yaqara Group Limited's Executive Chairman, Philip Gerlach, said that the approval of the Master Plan was a milestone in the development of the Yaqara Studio City.

"The Master Plan approvals process has required consultation with twenty two government departments, ministries and agencies all of whom have worked at various levels toward this moment since 1998," he said.

Mr Gerlach said that the Company had commissioned numerous, extensive independent studies over the past four years in preparation for development of the 5,500 acre site.

"The Company has invested a substantial amount of time and funds commissioning reports and studies In order to secure this green light for development by the Department," he said.

"These reports dealt with issues related to the development of residential and commercial infrastructure and issues such as water availability and geo-technical and environmental impacts on the site and its surrounds.

"These studies provided information required to ensure the sustainable growth of a city which we currently estimate will surpass the population of Ba," said Mr Gerlach.

"Building a new city from the ground up is a complex and intricate task," said Ms Ubitau, Director, Department of Town and Country Planning. "And, this is the first time in the past 30 years that a new city has been planned for Fiji," she said.

"The Yaqara Studio City site is nearly ten times larger than that of Denarau Island and planning of this development has required finding appropriate solutions for a wide range of commercial, social and environmental issues.

"The approval of the Master Plan now clears the way for lodgement of subdivisions required for further development within the Yaqara Studio City.

"Previous approval had been given for the development of a subdivision for the Telecom Fiji Limited VT-Sat satellite which has provided enormous benefits to both rural and urban Fiji," she said.

"The development of the entire site, however, required full Master Plan approval of 4,500 acres and 1,000 acres of foreshore prior to further development," said Ms Ubitau.

"The Master Plan approval coincides with my first trip to Fiji six years ago," said Mr Gerlach..

"We are totally delighted by this achievement and genuinely feel we have come a long way.

"Development of the Yaqara Studio City will now commence in earnest and on schedule in 2005," he said.

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