Aimeliik State seeks assistance from the national govt
Throwing trash along the Compact Road, especially along the road to the national solid waste site in Aimeliik, is getting worse, according to Aimeliik State Governor Browny Simer. The Aimeliik State Public Works is seeing more trash being discarded along the roadside than ever before.
“It has gotten so bad that we are going ask the national government to help us identify these people and prosecute them,” said Governor Simer. Aimeliik State government is also blocking certain areas along the Compact Road, especially those coming from the Koksai area toward Aimeliik that have become common dumping ground for people.
“We are collecting those trash and looking through them to find out who they belong to and fine them, based on Aimeliik State law,” said Sherry Koshiba, Aimeliik State Administrative Officer. “The trash is in trash bags and deliberately discarded. We are also reporting to the police because those littering can be fined for violating national law against littering.”
Governor Simer added that they will be communicating with the national government regarding the scheduled hours of the national solid waste site. “Sometimes it opens at 9 am, closes at 1 pm, or closes on Sundays. You see people come and park outside of the solid waste site, waiting for it to open. Some people get tired of waiting and dump their trash elsewhere. We will ask the national government to open the site from 8 to 5 and on weekends so people can properly dispose of their waste,” said Simer.
In addition to deliberate littering by people, trash being transported to the solid waste site is flying off vehicles and falling to the road because they are not properly secured. Plastic bags, paper, foam insulations and other lightweight materials are falling off vehicles and littering the road.
But the growing littering problem is not only on the road to the national solid waste site but also within state hamlet roads in Babeldaob as well as Koror.
For example, despite many efforts by Koror State to build trash collection sites within its hamlets to make it easier for people to discard their trash properly, some people still choose to dump their waste along the roads instead of the proper location.
In Ngesaol hamlet, six waste collection stations are strategically placed along the road from one end of the village to the end. However, some people still drive past all the stations and throw their trash along the road or into the mangrove.
Constant cleaning by the Koror State road crew and Ngesaol community is not deterring such individuals from dumping trash along the roadside.
For a solution, the Aimeliik State government is seeking to work with the national government to enforce anti-littering laws and penalize people caught littering.
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