THE Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) will examine its legislation on the management of ship-borne waste.
MSAF chief executive officer Joeli Cawaki said they were consulting the Fiji Ports Corporation Ltd (FPCL) and an overseas company for this work.
“MSAF will review its legislation relating to waste discharged from vessels into the sea and on land,” he said.
“In terms of ballast water, we are talking with FPCL and an Australian company to build a reception facility here in Suva for ship-borne wastes – for both liquid and solid waste.
“We have nothing at the moment for disposal and are relying on Naboro.”
Mr Cawaki said when vessels called in to local ports, they brought their waste into Fiji.
“Most of the dry waste ends up at Naboro. We have companies here to look after sewage or liquid waste but we don’t have the machinery or technology to turn that waste into reusable material.”
Mr Cawaki said they were also working with the Secretariat of the Pacific Environmental Regional Programme (SPREP) and the University of the South Pacific for impact studies — “not only waste but invasive species through these vessels”.
“Different areas of the world have different organisms in their water space. If a vessel is travelling from one country to Fiji, it has to change ballast along the way to prevent the transfer of foreign species or animals to Fiji.”
