The Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) is reminding Fijians to prioritise disposing of their rubbish in the correct places and not down WAF assets.
WAF Chief Operating Officer, Seru Soderberg, said that in previous years, customers have been very negatively impacted by the results of littering and he hopes that this behaviour will change in 2022.
“Firstly I would like to say thank you to those Fijians who have been and continue to be responsible by disposing of their rubbish in the correct manner – we appreciate your foresight in helping to keep the country litter-free,” said Mr Soderberg.
“However, while there are those who go out of their way to do the right thing, there are a number of people who simply don’t make any effort. Their surroundings have turned into their own personal dumping ground – which frankly, is shameful.”
Mr Soderberg added that in the past, WAF teams have been called to attend to several issues reported by customers and on a number of occasions, found that the problem was caused by a build-up of poorly disposed rubbish.
“Our raw water sources have not been spared either from the impact of litterbugs.”
“While carrying out regular cleaning activities near the water catchment point of a raw water source to remove debris such as leaves, branches, stones, sand, and soil, teams have found large amounts of dumped plastic waste in the form of bags, wrappers, and bottles.
Mr Soderberg said in any of these instances where water supply had been disrupted due to a blockage caused by litter or where a sewage overflow occurred, communities have been left severely impacted for extended periods of time.
“What these litterbugs fail to realise is that an entire community is affected by their carelessness.”
“WAF resources, such as manpower and finances, are also impacted. These resources could have been utilised on planned development work but are instead diverted into fixing an issue that could have been avoided if people cared enough to be responsible.”
“This is why I urge every single Fijian to do the right thing and to dutifully dispose of their rubbish correctly.”
For more information, you can call 3346777 and 5777 (Vodafone, Digicel & Inkk users) or email contact@waf.com.fj