Nadi River rubbish dump

Ronnie Chang, Nadi

Thank you Dr Ram Raju, the president of the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for adding your voice to a problem that has existed for a long long time and is now beginning to “see some light at one end of an unpleasant tunnel.”

I have previously expressed my personal concerns, in these open columns, on the issue where the Nadi River is being used as rubbish dump.

For far too long, all authorities and agencies concerned have simply looked the other way.

It has been a case of highlight after highlight.

No one has had the ability to properly address this nuisance and provide some initial solution.

Rubbish is clearly dumped along Nadi River bank. Health and environmental authorities conveniently continue to look the other way.

One only has to follow all settlements along our meandering Nadi River to properly witness this same sad story.

There is almost no provision for most of these residents to properly dispose their rubbish, garbage and/or household or other refuse.

Furthermore, serious adult education should be paramount than ever before. A whole new sad true story will ultimately unfold when the real work by JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency) commences on our town’s drainage system. This sad truth will hurt, and humiliate, big time.

So here’s a thought:

‘A journey of a thousand miles; Always begins with the first step’

Now, is Nadi’s hour to be really a part of the solution to Nadi River’s ongoing rubbish eye-sore, health hazard and civic environnental embarassment.

Please, defer the proclamation of Nadi City until this pertinent problem is solved once and for all.