Waiqele College, the first school to establish a Climate Change Club with the assistance of Fiji National University, has initiated the clean river project.

FNU Labasa Campus head Pardeep Lal and some staff members began the project with club members yesterday. They put up a signboard near the Waiqele River in Labasa, located near the school.

Mr Lal said their effort in partnership with the Waiqele College and the local community was to establish a clean river project and the signboard was the beginning.

“We also distributed flyers to children and to the local communities on rivers and how important they are to everyone,” Mr Lal said.

“The commercial exploitation of rivers, catchment areas and buffer zones will only end when they are declared natural heritage. Many activities are taking place along and in our rivers and catchment area such as gravel extraction, deforestation, logging and mining.

“There are rivers and catchment areas that need to be immediately preserved and freed from poor development.

“Those rivers and catchment areas need to be protected from all forms of commercial activities and declared as natural heritage if we want to avoid severe flooding, losses and deaths. These also lead to loss of water sources and environmental degradation.”

Mr Lal said rivers were also used for household and commercial refuse dumping, which must stop.

“In the past people maintained a strong, deep ecology relationship with the environment,” he said.

“Today we are giving rivers, catchment areas and the environment very little to no respect.

“The benefits of declaring rivers as natural reserves will be far reaching to the local communities, state and the environment overall.”

“There are more than 60 rivers in Vanua Levu and hundreds of streams.

“It is important for the state to look at those rivers and catchment areas which are being exploited

“To declare them natural heritage so that they can rejuvenate over time,” Mr Lal said.

Waiqele College principal Ashok Ram said the club was formed in 2016 and its members had carried out many projects in line with climate change awareness.

“As for Waiqele River more than 50 of my students access the crossing and it becomes an eye sore to see lot of rubbish being dumped in the river,” Mr Ram said.

“With the signboard any driver or pedestrian passing by will read and avoid polluting the river.

“Hence, students will be educated and encourage their families to respect and look after their environment.”

Edited by Percy Kean

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