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Introduction
[ A | B | C ]
C. Principal findings
Suva has developed a great deal, particularly during the past 20 years. As in many urban areas, population growth, industrialization, and urbanization are putting increasing pressure on the environment. Pollution and waste management are the principal environmental problems faced. Yet Suva remains a relatively small city and the extent of environmental degradation is somewhat benign compared with many major cities of the world. Thus there has been a tendency to treat urban environmental problems in Fiji in a trivial and ineffective way. As the National State of the Environment Report, 1991, points out:
"The gravity of Fiji's environmental problems are not measured by their severity or extent, but rather by the levity and ineffectiveness with which serious, albeit incipient problems, are being treated. Fiji is too small, too vulnerable, to ignore such problems for any length of time."
"This attitude and increasing cumulative impact of these relatively 'minor' environmental problems cause a serious threat to the sustainability of current developments in Suva. The lack of foresight and vision on sustainable development has led to the neglect the environmental issues in policy and decision-making."
The national level study confirmed those major weaknesses in environment management which had already been identified in a number of previous studies. Among the common problems identified were:
- A lack of coordination;
- Environmental problems being dealt with at a compartmentalized sectoral level;
- Outdated and fragmented legislation;
- Too many laws;
- Overlapping responsibilities between authorities;
- Weak mechanisms for integrating environmental concerns in decision-making;
- A lack of a systematic method for undertaking compulsory environmental impact assessments (EIAs);
- An absence of a strong national authority for coordinating environmental management;
- A lack of enforcement;
- A lack of economic incentives to motivate proper environmental conduct;
- Inadequate financial and human resources among those agencies dealing with environmental protection;
- Insufficient, and in some areas an absence of quality criteria for monitoring and enforcement;
- An absence of political will;
- A lack of public awareness
The management of the urban environment of Suva represents a microcosm of those problems, which are compounded by weak links between the national and local government authorities on environmental issues, as well as the limited power vested in SCC. The large urban area outside the Suva City boundary currently has no local government authority.
The Sustainable Development Bill is expected to change the situation substantially. The Bill is particularly strong in addressing the urban environmental problems of pollution and waste management. However, given the poor record of Fiji in complying with, and enforcing environmental legislation, serious doubts have been raised concerning the ability to implement such comprehensive and far-reaching legislation. The conclusion of this report is that the passing of the Sustainable Development Bill Legislation will provide the required conditions for achieving the desired environmental and sustainable development objectives. However, those conditions will need to be accompanied by a collective determination among public servants and decision makers to use the legislative framework in promoting sustainable development. Problems of inadequate resources have also been identified, but they are seen as relatively minor compared with those of ongoing political and bureaucratic and political will.
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