Nakia Resort & Dive and Taveuni Ocean Sports for Sale
Infrastructure – power, water, roads, recycling and disposal
Individual property owners on Taveuni are responsible for developing their own infrastructure, including power, with some exceptions described below. They also are responsible for roads to and on their own land, water, septic, recycling, and garbage disposal.
When the Kellys acquired land to build Nakia and TOS, they developed and installed their own infrastructure. This is still a common practice for Taveuni resorts, as centralized power has recently been installed, but remains limited; there are no roads on unoccupied land; the small municipal water company services few residents; and there are no central septic, recycling, or garbage disposal systems.
Power: Prior to opening Nakia in 2007, the Kellys installed a hybrid solar, wind, and hydro alternative energy system to provide power to the resort. Recently, the Fiji Electric Authority (FEA) installed a new hydro-electric power plant to service a limited part of the Island. FEA brought power to Nakia in August 2018. Government power allowed the Kellys to install air conditioning in the owners’ home, all bures, kitchen, and office, increasing Nakia’s occupancy rate. The resort’s alternative energy system and generator remain in place, but are used only during temporary outages from FEA.
Since the government power is hydro-based, Nakia maintains its environmentally-friendly profile. In addition to continuing to rely on sustainable energy, Nakia’s energy conservation practices include:
+ using “on demand” hot water
+ air drying clothes/linens
+ hand washing dishes
+ using energy-efficient appliances and electronics
+ using low-wattage fluorescent light bulbs
+ changing linens upon request
+ switching off lights/fans when not in use
+ using solar-powered flashlights.
Water: Prior to buying the land on which Nakia sits, the Kellys entered into a Water Usage Agreement with the lease owner upslope from the resort, whose TLTB-leased land contains two artesian springs. During initial construction, the Kellys installed two miles of underground three inch pvc pressure pipe to deliver this pure water to the resort, gardens, and TOS, and to power Nakia’s alternative hydro energy power system. In over 11 years, there has never been a shortage of water for the resort, TOS, or garden.
In exchange for unlimited water usage from these springs, the Kellys pay the landowner an annual lease payment of FJ$500 for the water source land. Now that the alternative energy system is used for backup only, the lease payment amount could be offset by selling water to neighboring land owners who have expressed interest in purchasing water.
Roads: The Kellys graded roads along recorded easements, installed culverts, and have continuously maintained roadways, adding base rock and gravel as needed, making all-weather transportation a reality.
Septic/recycling/garbage disposal: Like most of the islands in the Fiji group, Taveuni is a volcanic island. As such, its soil is very porous. Leach fields for sewage are 3-meter (10-foot) wide holes dug in the ground, then filled with porous coral to absorb liquids. Standard concrete septic tanks were built and installed on site. Nakia was the first resort on Taveuni to practice “reduce, re-use, and recycle” during the building process and subsequent operations.
The Kellys minimize waste by:
+ growing nearly all fruits and vegetables eaten by the family and guests
+ gardening organically to avoid using herbicides and pesticides
+ composting organic matter to fertilize the gardens
+ buying fresh, local fish, meat, and eggs, to minimize preservatives and packaging
+ using durable cups, glasses, dishes, tableware, and storage containers
+ recycling paper, glass, plastic and aluminum and
+ using biodegradable soap and cleaning products.