Shania Shayal Prasad 
[File Photo]
Illegal dumping is costing the Nasinu Town Council around $3 million every year.
From January to May alone, 39 people were fined for dumping waste in public areas.
Special Administrator Chair Felix Magnus states that the problem continues despite ongoing clean-up efforts and awareness campaigns.
Felix Magnus [File Photo]
He said it’s easy to spot where rubbish is being dumped and link it to nearby homes.
The Council charges a $40 fine to anyone caught dumping illegally.
“We just have to traverse the streets and see where the piles of rubbish are. And then you count the houses, you can’t hesitate to equate that the number of houses here can dump this amount of rubbish.”
Magnus says they are strengthening the waste management unit with more trucks and are counting on further government funding.
“We’re beefing up our waste management unit. We have another three trucks being donated by the government. And we hope that the government will give us that budgetary support so that we can provide more services to the people of Nasinu.”
Resident Jiona Matai says communities are stepping in to help by cleaning roadsides and gathering waste for pickup.
“We cleaned the roadside and cleaned it up. And we put the rubbish together there for them to be taken away.”
Residents are calling for shared responsibility to help keep Nasinu clean and safe.
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