Call for civic pride as Voivoi rubbish piles up

People need to show greater civic pride, says Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Lawrence Kumar, as rubbish continues to pile up at vacant lots at Voivoi town centre.

The area, adjacent to the Fiji Airways hangar, has become a dumping ground despite littering offences and fines being in place.

Mr Kumar said people needed to take responsibility for their rubbish instead of expecting others to clean up after them.

“This is sad. Who do we expect to come and clean up all the rubbish that is there?” he said.

“People do come, eat, and can’t just take the food containers, put them back in the car and take them home and dump them?

“We need to show a level of responsible behaviour and have civic pride. We want to be all Fijians, but we don’t show pride in all that. We can all do better.”

Former Fiji Airways engineer and singer William ‘Bigwilz’ Waqanibaravi, who was commenting on the issue, said it was frustrating to see people take public spaces for granted.

He said people often complained about losing access to beaches and recreational areas because of development, yet failed to care for the spaces still available to them.

The area at Voivoi had been cleaned and maintained, with grass regularly cut. “But look at what we do, us locals. Look at the rubbish,” he said.

He said people parked in the area, ate meals and held picnics but left behind food containers and other rubbish.

“These are everyday people who are coming and doing this, throwing it up, chicken curry, look at all this kind of rubbish going on,” he said.