'Village headmen, community workers should help enforce waste laws'

The role of village headmen and community health workers should be strengthened to improve waste management monitoring in communities, the Standing Committee on Social Affairs has been told.

Macuata Provincial Council conservation officer Vasiti Vosabalavu made the proposal during consultations on the Public Health Amendment Bill at the Labasa Civic Centre today.

Ms Vosabalavu said Fiji had several laws governing waste management, but enforcement on the ground remained inadequate.

“Health inspectors from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, environment officers and conservation officers are not always in communities to monitor village waste management,” she said.

“It is the village headmen and community health workers who are constantly in touch with villagers and are better placed to monitor.”

She proposed amending the job descriptions of village headmen and community health workers to give them authority to monitor waste management, issue notices when breaches occur, and report offences to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

“Waste management is a very big issue in communities, not only in Macuata but across the country,” Ms Vosabalavu said.

“People dump rubbish in rivers, vacant land and forests, then burn it, adding to pollution in our environment.”

Standing Committee on Social Affairs chairperson Iliesa Vanawalu welcomed the recommendations, saying they carried significant weight, particularly as they came from an officer of the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs.