Community effort cleans up Lautoka gateway

More than 30 volunteers collected about 20 large bags of rubbish from one of Lautoka’s main gateways on Saturday, in an effort to encourage residents to take greater responsibility for keeping the city clean.

Members of the Shincheonji Volunteer Team gathered at Natabua Junction before heading north along Queens Road, collecting rubbish from the roadside.

The roughly two-hour cleanup covered a section of the road that serves as an important route into Lautoka.

Volunteer representative Laisa Ere said the initiative was aimed at encouraging people to view the city as their shared home.

“Our hope is simple,” Ms Ere said.

“When people see this road clean, we want them to feel positive energy and to think, ‘This is our home, let’s keep it beautiful.’

“If each person changes one small habit, the whole city changes.”

About 20 large bags of rubbish were collected during the cleanup.

Ms Ere said Queens Road was important to Lautoka because it was one of the main routes into the city and helped shape visitors’ first impressions.

The volunteers, equipped with gloves and rubbish bags, cleared scattered waste from the road verges.

For the team, the exercise was about more than removing rubbish.

It was also intended to encourage young people and other residents to take greater ownership of their surroundings and recognise that keeping public spaces clean was a shared responsibility.

The team hopes to work alongside residents and community groups in future cleanup activities.

Its members also thanked Lautoka City Council staff who contributed their time and effort to the initiative.

The volunteers said continued community participation could help keep Lautoka’s roads and public spaces clean and improve the city’s appearance.

Ms Ere said the message was simple: maintaining a clean city was not the responsibility of one group alone, but a shared effort involving residents, visitors and community organisations.