[Photo: PARLIAMENT OF FIJI/ FACEBOOK]

The Suva City Council welcomes provisions in the proposed Public Health Amendment Bill giving environmental health officers greater powers to enter properties and informal settlements to address health concerns.

Council representatives say the legislation will strengthen enforcement, enabling councils to respond more effectively to local health risks.

Acting Director for Health and Waste Management Services, Wally Atalifo, told the committee a key benefit of the bill is the removal of lengthy approval processes.¤

The SCC notes that under current law, councils must obtain approval from a divisional medical officer before entering private property for remedial work.

“Under the proposed Public Health Bill Amendment, there’s no, we don’t need for approval by the medical officer. The proposed bill states that the environmental health officer, or currently the health inspector, or the sanitary inspector, has the full powers to do so without approval from the divisional medical officer. And those were some of the issues that we faced.”

Atalifo adds that current legal limitations prevent them from executing their duties.

He says that currently, the councils face the challenge of entering informal settlements to exercise their duties, and the proposed bill gives them the mandate to enter informal settlements and enforce the Public Health Act.

National WASH Coordinator Toga Vosataki told the committee the change will accelerate enforcement by removing the need for prior approval.

“So that only had a medical officer in the Principal Act. So that is currently being substituted with the environmental health practitioner.”

The council strongly supports the bill, describing it as a modernization that addresses emerging health challenges like environmen