USED needles and cans of glue are among the dangerous items being pulled from Fiji’s waterways by workers clearing trashboom sites, raising serious concerns about the hazards faced by those removing rubbish.
Trashboom Pacific director Wayne Fuakilau said workers were regularly finding discarded needles and glue cans mixed with other waste trapped by the booms.
“In one site we can intercept three to four needles and two to three cans of glue,” Mr Fuakilau said.
He said the public often saw a boom filled with rubbish but did not see the risks workers faced when removing and analysing its contents.
“People will see a full boom, but they don’t see what we go through when we collect and analyse data.”
Mr Fuakilau said workers had to exercise extreme caution when sorting the rubbish because of the presence of needles.
“And we have to really be careful sorting because of the needles.”
The discarded items are removed and disposed of through respective municipal council skip bins, which Mr Fuakilau said were then taken to landfill.
But he warned of the potential environmental and public health consequences if such hazardous waste was not intercepted.
“Imagine those needles and glue cans ending up in the mangroves for the crabs.”
Mr Fuakilau said the safety of his team remained a major concern as the company expanded its work to intercept rubbish before it reached the ocean.
“So not only there’s leaking sewer, there’s needles as well that we have to be aware of.”
