Fiji’s appalling litter and waste management practices are in Government’s sights and it is trying to find a long-term solution to address the issue.
In an interview with this newspaper, Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad said the issue of improper waste disposal was a serious concern and this important area would also be part of the new National Development Plan (NDP).
“We expect town and city councils to also come up with practical, deliverable plans to address solid waste disposal which is becoming a serious issue,” he said.
“That is something that our National Development Plan is going to address and lay down the problems, but also how to go about resolving it.
“We would be looking at some of the measures and possible incentives to promote, recycling, solid waste, disposal management, a combination of policies and programs that should address it.”
Prof Prasad said it was also necessary to relook at anti-litter laws and how these were being enforced, whether the enforcement was effective, whether the public were being compliant with the laws and what aspects of these laws needed to be relooked at.
“These are all issues that will be looked at as part of our budget and as part of our discussion going forward.”
Prof Prasad also said Government through the Ministry of Environment would need to do an audit to look at the effectiveness of certain policies, including the plastic bag levy.
He said while it was alright to put out a policy, it was also Government’s job to monitor this, especially if the policies did not work as intended.
