As the volume of waste rises and infrastructure buckles under the pressure of rapid urban development, Nasinu Town Council CEO Felix Magnus is urging the Government for an increase in financial support to better manage the mounting crisis.
Speaking at the relaunch of the I Recycle program at Bykeitou informal settlement in Nadera, Mr Magnus acknowledged the Government’s commitment to addressing waste management and its efforts to empower councils across the country.
“In this financial year, we should slowly see the revealing of the policies and new laws that will be put in place, so we are just waiting for that,” Mr Magnus said.
“But rest assured that the Government has also set aside budgets to all the councils in Fiji to assist them in waste management.
“And that’s something that we must thank the Government for, that they have taken this on board, and they have set aside a budget to all councils in Fiji for waste management subsidies.”
When asked specifically about the allocation for Nasinu, Mr Magnus said discussions were pending with the Ministry of Local Government.
He said the council operated on a $2.5million waste management budget in the last financial year but it had requested more in light of growing demands.
“At the moment we have not sat with the Ministry for Local Government, but we think that we should have a substantial amount to cater for the waste for the new financial year.
“Now, our last financial year we had a budget of around $2.5million to manage waste. So, we’ve asked the Government if we could increase that due to the forecast.
“Now with all the developments happening in Nasinu, we are starting to see a stress on the infrastructure, and also a high level of output in terms of waste.”