Bula
Three stories make the front page of The Fiji Times for Friday, June 13.
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Synopsis
Too many lazybones!
TO fight the growing problem of illegal dumping of rubbish, the Nasinu Town Council plans to install 40 CCTV cameras at key locations in the township.
Why would you do that in the first place? That’s a question quite a few people would be asking of the council.
Why do you need that? The council’s special administrator Salesh Kumar explains that despite clear ‘No Littering’ signs and regular waste collection services, the municipality continues to battle irresponsible dumping, with many culprits travelling from outside the district to discard their rubbish illegally.
The situation, he said, had reached a critical point. Now that’s a sad state of affairs! But is it a shocking? Perhaps not anymore judging by the extent of littering around the country.
We seem to have many people who have no concern for our environment. We have lazy people who indiscriminately dump their rubbish anywhere they can. We have people who have no community spirit and no appreciation for the harm littering does to the environment.
Sadly, these kinds of people live among us. They are disrespectful, and selfish. They have no appreciation at all for cleanliness and do not care for their environment.
As Mr Kumar points out: “We’ve provided bins, signage and regular pickups, but some people still choose to dump their waste anywhere.
“It’s even worse when people from other areas come to Nasinu to throw their rubbish. That’s unacceptable.”
The new surveillance initiative, which will feature the first batch of 40 high-resolution CCTV units installed at known dumping hotspots, is funded through the proceeds of the 2024 Nasinu Festival.
He also made a passionate plea to residents not to litter.
“When our people go overseas, they don’t litter, they follow the rules. But back home it’s a different story.
“We need to change that mind-set. We need to have district pride.
“Nasinu deserves the same respect people give to other places.”
In saying that, we also reflect on something that Pacific Recycling Foundation (PRF) founder Amitesh Deo said to mark World Environment Day and World Oceans Day last week.
“We have a huge waste management crisis in this country, and the region, and globally, and we can’t continue to operate this way, so we need to implement best practices, and go away from the culture of clean-ups, because that doesn’t solve anything.”
We go back to the big questions above: Why resort to surveillance in the first place? Why is such a measure necessary?
What we need is long-term behavioral change. The Nasinu Town Council’s initiative sends a strong message that littering will no longer be tolerated. However, it must also challenge all of us to rethink our attitudes and take ownership of our shared spaces.
Let’s be responsible! Let’s be clean! Enough of the laziness! Dispose your rubbish in the right place!
