The Suva City Council (SCC) has booked 161 people for littering from January to July this year.

According to the council, almost 70 per cent of the offenders failed to pay the spot fine of $40 and have had to appear in court with some individuals paying as much as $1000.

Suva and Lami special administrator chair Isikeli Tikoduadua said SCC had continued to strengthen litter enforcement in a bid to eradicate litter within the city boundary.

The ban on plastic bags has resulted in a large drop in volume of litter found within the inner Suva areas.

“One area that the council will be heavily concentrating on the next few months is the bus station area,” Mr Tikoduadua said.

“All buses at the Suva Bus Stand will be required to be clean inside and free of empty bottles and used bus tickets before departing the terminal for their next trip.”

The council has observed that a high volume of empty bottles and used bus tickets fly off buses along Edinburgh Drive and Walu Bay strip.

To deal with this, SCC has had to employ workers to pick up empty plastic bottles, used bus tickets and snack wrappers.

The council collects five garbage bags of litter from Edinburgh Drive on a daily basis.

“SCC is encouraging the general public to assist them in reducing litter through good practices such as disposing off at allocated bins or taking used packaging material home and disposing through the regular Waste Collection Programmes,” he said.

Also from January to July this year, the council has also removed 101 derelict vehicles from the streets of Suva.

Edited by Karalaini Waqanidrola

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