Fiji: Assistant Minister in OPM, Sakiusa Tubuna participates in clean-up drive on Earth Day

Fiji, South Pacific: The world observed Earth Day on April 22, 2023, and in recognition of the 53rd Earth Day, the Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Sakiusa Tubuna, joined relevant stakeholders and organisations to celebrate the planet, according to the government of Fiji.

The first Earth Day was celebrated in the year 1970, and now, April 22 has been set aside every year to mark this special event, which is dedicated to protecting and saving “mother earth”.

The government further asserted that Assistant Minister Tubuna, whilst officiating at the celebration, stated that the event signifies and promotes the understanding of important environmental issues and shows that we are all part of this global mission to protect our mother earth – our home.

“This year’s theme, “Invest in Our Planet,” calls for the need to foster pathways for our future generations by strengthening existing partnerships and creating new partnerships as collaborative efforts to address the planetary crisis faced,” he added.

“Today, the world is faced with the greatest threat of our time – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. In Fiji, this is an everyday challenge that many of us are facing,” he also said.

In addition to this, the government of Fiji quoted the minister saying, “Our actions directly impact the environment, and it is the responsibility of every citizen to make positive changes toward environmental stewardship. This could be as simple as reducing our use of single-use plastics, conserving water, planting mangroves, recycling or switching to renewable energy sources.”

Asst. Minister Tubuna also stated that as habitants of the earth, we have the responsibility to make informed choices, sustainable consumption patterns and reduction in the amount of waste produced.

He reiterated that this year’s International Mother Earth Day is another opportunity for us all to rally together to ensure that all actions are taken towards achieving our collective goal of saving mother earth.

Furthermore, the update informed that the event, organised by the Department of Environment at Thurston Gardens, was followed by a clean-up campaign at the Suva foreshore beach area and also the planting of native trees.

Minister Tubuna also added, “I encourage communities and individuals to be responsible and be ambassadors for the environment and appreciate the true value of Nature and the intricate relationship that it shares with us humans”.

As part of their corporate social responsibility programme, representatives from the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Environment, Suva City Council, IUCN, WCS, WWF, Birdlife International, Digicel, Coca-cola and IGH (GPH and Holiday Inn) came in numbers to collect waste along the Suva foreshore and Thurston gardens.

The government, while concluding, stated that waste collected included plastic materials, metal, paper, wood, glass, household items and general items. After sorting, general waste collected weighed up to 280kg, PET bottles at 23kg and 2kg worth of aluminium cans.