FEO Rubbish

Satish Nakched, Suva

It is more than two weeks when the voting was done through out Fiji.

In Nadera, Nasinu, the polling venue was shifted to the Nadera grounds, and all went well, and the Fijian Elections Office must be acknowledged for carrying out the process very efficiently and in a professional manner.

However, after the temporary sheds were dismantled earlier this week, it was noted that the FEO did not clean up the mess that they left behind.

The entire playing field is still covered with the rubbish that was created in the process as the organisation had failed to provide for the refuse collection bins.

Due to the strong breeze papers and other materials is now scattered everywhere.

The refuse consists of voter guide booklets, tissue papers that was used to wipe off excess ink, FEO caution tapes and other related materials that were used during the voting day. There are aluminium pegs discarded in the drain and some are still inserted in the ground that could cause injury as this playing ground is used every afternoon. According to Fiji’s Experimental Environmental Account for Solid Waste 2021, a report released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBOS) last week stating that 182,053 tonnes was general waste.

Of the total waste generated in 2021, 62.4 per cent of the waste ends up in the landfill, 0.2 per cent was recycled and 37.4 per cent was independently disposed of by households. It was also noted during the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this week in Suva that plastic is present in 97 per cent of fish species and people are consuming up to 50,000 micro plastic particle a year.

The FEO has demonstrated an unethical behaviour towards the environment and completely ignored the Sustainable Developments Goals that Fiji has committed to.