Minister for Environment Doctor Mahendra Reddy has highlighted to Fijivillage that the Environment Ministry will begin rolling out major awareness programs next week on littering and the importance of keeping the environment clean. 

Reddy says that the Ministry is also looking at having officers to monitor littering in the various municipalities by late November this year.

Fijivillage also brought to the Minister’s attention that the Litter Prevention Officers in each municipality who are supposedly moving around to spot those who are found littering are rarely seen doing so.

The Minister for Environment maintained that Environment Officers will be deployed to monitor and spot fine people who are caught littering.

Reddy had earlier stressed that littering has become a major issue affecting waterways across the country adding that the Ministry will be prosecuting those that have been littering and ruining drainage systems.

Rubbish in Nabukalou Creek in Suva

Under the Litter Act, there is a $40 on‑the‑spot fine for an individual if found littering and other penalties for littering are fines of up to $500 or a prison term of six months.

Any corporate body found committing a first offence under the Litter Act will be fined $4,000 and for second or subsequent offences the corporate body will face the full brunt of the law with the maximum penalty under the Act of $10,000 or a prison term of 12 months.