Praneeta Prakash 
Calls have been made to stop senseless dumping and introduce urgent legislative and behavioral reforms to tackle Fiji’s deepening waste crisis.
Nasinu Town Council Executive Chair, Felix Magnus made the call during the relaunch of the Pacific Recycling Foundation’s I-Recycle Program in the Bykeitou Informal Settlement in Nadera, Nasinu today.
Magnus did not mince words in condemning irresponsible waste disposal habits that continue to plague communities across Fiji.
He says that despite consistent clean-up efforts by municipal workers, the roads in Nasinu are often littered with rubbish within hours of being cleared.
“Not only are we the most densely populated, but we have become what the other towns call one of the most dirtiest towns in Fiji and we have tried our very best to clean the streets of Nasinu and we can only plead with the residents of Nasinu to please look after the streets, look after the environment.”
Magnus says the relaunch of the I-Recycle Program is seen as a vital step toward instilling a recycling culture in underserved communities.
He states that people in the informal settlements or those below the poverty line dump waste senselessly.
PRF Founder and CEO of Waste Recyclers Fiji, Amitesh Deo, stresses that recycling needs to be made accessible to all.
We cannot change anything around waste management unless and until we change behavior and mindset, and change policies aligned to it.
The program, relaunched in partnership with Pacific Energy and the Nasinu Town Council, reflects a growing call to treat waste management not as a privilege, but as a shared responsibility across all sectors of society.
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