12,000 warnings cause for alarm

THE Lautoka City Council last year issued 12,000 litter warnings. While the statistics are alarming, they also show that litter disposal behaviours have not changed,

Department of Environment director Sandeep Singh said the problem can only be resolved when people change their mind-set towards littering.

She said the fact that 12,000 warnings were issued meant more awareness on the issue was needed .

“We have to really think about a way to change people’s mind-sets about litter because if they are just being issued with warnings then they really won’t take it seriously,” she said.

“Issuing 12,000 warnings is a concern because it shows that people are not taking littering laws seriously.”

She said apart from the Litter Act, the Environment Management Act also provided harsher penalties.

“I agree that the amount that individuals and companies are being fined under the Litter Act is not enough.

“But with regards to the bigger offences, we are guided by the Environment Management Act not the Litter Act.

“Once you have that breach, pollution offences are serious and that is where the Environment Management Act comes in where fines go up to $1 million.

“We have to be careful how we define litter and which Act we apply because it basically depending on the nature of the pollution related offence.”

Meanwhile, Lautoka City Council senior health inspector Shalen Singh said the council also issued between 250 and 300 penalties last year.

He said while some bylaws needed to be reviewed, the Litter Act had been a great tool for the council to monitor illegal littering activities within the Sugar City.