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The State will appeal the decision of the High Court in Lautoka that ordered for the payment of road construction costs to Matapo Ltd, the developers of the multi-million dollar Momi hotel project.
Justice Gwen Philips handed down her decision last Friday and ruled in favour of the Momi developers after a row between the two parties regarding the construction of the road leading to the hotel site.
However, the Attorney General’s Chambers has described the judgement “plain wrong in law and fact”.
And interim AG Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has indicated the State would definitely appeal this decision.
He said the State would also apply for a stay in the execution of the judgement.
He said the State maintained that its obligation to pay the costs of the road construction at Momi Bay only arose upon practical completion of the hotel and following certification by the Public Works Department that the construction was in accordance with necessary designs and the agreement.
“The agreement with the developer was that the State would pay for the construction of the road only after the hotel was completed,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.
He said the State intended to fully honour its commitment to pay the costs of the construction of the road to Matapo, but after the completion of the hotel construction.
“As of today, we still have no hotel,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.
An application for leave to appeal and a stay on the judgement will be filed on Monday.
The Momi Bay development is one of the largest integrated tourist ventures in Fiji with a total project value of $255 million, which will involve the development of a 250 room five star hotel, a nine-hole golf course and a golf club house.
However, the project has been struggling since early 2007 due to lack of funding and other issues.
