In an effort to address the issue of illegal dumping, the Ministry of Health has embarked on a Clean Up Operation.
The Ministry started off their operation by cleaning up the Waituri illegal dumping site in Nausori.
Health Minister Rosy Akbar says the removal at Waituri alone has cost the Ministry around $22,000.
Akbar says there are similar illegal dumping sites all over Fiji and the Ministry is trying its best to remove it with the existing resources available, which otherwise could have been utilized well in other areas of development.
She says because of this illegal dumping the Health Ministry has to deal with this burden of clearing away rubbish which should not have been dumped in the first place.
The Minister for Health says despite the existence of the Litter Act and Environmental Management Act, there is blatant evidence of the practice in the form of individuals throwing their trash into the environment.
Akbar says that one of the Rural Local Authority roles under Public Health Act is carried out garbage collection in areas where applicable.
She says garbage constitutes kitchen waste and not household and white goods which is litter under the litter Act.
Akbar says that not only does illegal dumping destroy the environment and harm plants and animals, it also has a number of other negative effects on population health like creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes which spread Chikungunia, Zika and especially dengue.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health will be officially launching the Fiji Zika prevalence and Climate Change Study Project 2018 today.
