Harbouring rubbish

THE revelation made by professional diver and Dive Centre Fiji (Pte) Ltd operations manager, Captain Johnathan Smith, that the Suva Harbour seabed is polluted with a thick layer of plastic, is not only a very serious problem, but it just shows how the majority of Fijians disregard their environment.

What do we expect when many don’t care nor consider the consequences of their actions? We see it every day, people chucking plastic bags, plastic bottles and other rubbish out of their vehicles and homes. Many have rubbish heaped along waterways just waiting for heavy rain for floodwaters to wash them away.

We are oblivious to the damage we are causing and we are making it worse by the day. This problem is not only found in Suva Harbour, but is common throughout the country.

The damage we’ve caused to our environment, over many decades, needs to be photographed and documented and used in an awareness program that needs to be read and viewed by every Fijian. This is a very serious problem that needs urgent attention!

And by the way, where is and what is the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of

Health doing, might I ask? More time should be spent inspecting, monitoring, and dealing with such problems. The condition of our environment is basically the standard in which our ministries operate.

Government needs to also set out a plan to clean up the mess we’ve caused on the seabed of our harbours and rivermouths.

There is a lot to do to get it back to its pristine, natural condition!

SIMON HAZELMAN

Rava Estate, Savusavu

My 1980s copy of Admiralty Sailing Directions gives a minimum depth of 17 metres at the principal anchorage half a mile NW of King’s Wharf, which agrees closely with the current nautical chart found now online.

A 5 metres thick layer of plastic now covering the seabed therefore seems unlikely to me, but certainly Suva Harbour suffers ever worse pollution from many sources and your reporter would do well to follow-up with investigation of which polluters, if any, have been fined recently.

Some years back I was enjoying supper at my favourite floating restaurant when the stench of marine diesel hit me and I guessed a fishing vessel nested at Princess Wharf may have taken the opportunity to pump oily bilge water overboard into the outgoing tide under the cover of darkness.

It would not surprise me if such flagrant disregard for marine pollution regulations persists here, whereas in many ports around the world it has become far less prevalent on account of stringent enforcement of stiff fines. WILLARD MILLER

Ellis Place, Suva