The country's biggest environmental problem

Steve Menzies

Addressing the poor management of waste has become a national priority for Tonga. A 2002 report outlining Tonga's “Priority Environmental Concerns” says pollution from solid and liquid waste was the biggest environmental problem facing the country. The report recommended that immediate measures be taken to minimise the impacts of waste, particularly because of the urgent need to find ways to protect the freshwater lens lying under Tongatapu.

Sione Fakaosi with the mountain of rubbish in the background.

An AusAID-funded Solid Waste Management Project is now being implemented to improve the management, collection and disposal, of solid waste in Tonga. The project is currently building a modern sanitary landfill that should be in operation by the end of the year. The government has an agreement with the New Zealand Overseas Development Assistance for the remediation of the current dumpsite.

Environment director, Uilou Samani, says the solid waste management project has come at the right time because the current dumpsite at Tukutonga (east of Nuku'alofa) has reached its maximum capacity and has become a major eyesore and cause of other environmental threats in the area.

Traditionally, the Ministry of Health is responsible for collecting and disposing rubbish. This service is only been available to people at the main town centres of Nuku'alofa (Tongatapu), Pangai (Ha'apai), Neiafu (Vava'u) and 'Ohonua ('Eua). Householders using this service are charged a monthly collection fee of five pa'anga. But the whole operation is heavily subsidised by the government.

With the construction of the new landfill, the Tongan cabinet has decided to transfer the responsibility for waste management to a new Waste Board. Within this new arrangement, it is likely the environment ministry will be expected to take a greater role in both monitoring and the overall management of solid waste.

The new Waste Authority will be operated as a private company and it will be responsible for funding on-going waste management operations.

The Tonga International Waters Project (IWP) is working directly with the community of Nukuhetulu to try and provide practical lessons to improve the management of both solid and liquid waste. The collaborative project with the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), is also working closely with the AusAID project to determine the true cost of managing waste in Tonga.

Sione Fakaosi, the national coordinator of the Tonga IWP, says the project has recently initiated one of the regions' first studies into how much money Pacific islands citizens could lose as a result of poor waste management.

“The valuation should reveal who really suffers as a result of waste problems and how much it really costs householders and the government-in terms of things like health problems and lost tourism opportunities.”

The study will feature as a key component of the Year of Action Against Waste, a SPREP initiative to support countries strengthen capacity to decrease levels of solid waste.

One of the core elements of the Year of Action is the finalisation of the regional solid waste management strategy, considered a blueprint for solid waste management in the region.

Tonga's economic valuation will provide an invaluable case study for countries and territories willing to undertake similar activities as part of the implementation of their national solid waste management action and plans.

IWP is also working with the solid waste management project in Tonga to determine how much each household is willing to pay for a proper collection system to be put in place.

Like other rural villages around Tonga, there is no household waste collection and disposal service in the village of Nukuhetulu. Waste generated in the village from shopping or gardening has traditionally been burnt, buried in the backyard, or dumped in the mangroves on the edge of Fanga'uta lagoon, just outside the village.

Sioape Tu'iono, Vaini District Officer and resident of Nukuhetulu village, says traditionally each household had its own waste pile in their backyards where they burn their rubbish on a regular basis.

“Rubbish that can't be burnt like tins, plastics, irons, etc, would either be buried in the backyard or on agricultural land, or just thrown in the mangroves, with little thought about its impact on the environment,” he says.

Fakaosi says many villagers in Nukuhetulu were unaware that dumping waste in the mangroves could threaten the environment.

The Tonga Community Development Trust has been working with the IWP to show householders in Nukuhetulu how to produce natural compost, liquid fertiliser and how to save and propagate seedlings for home gardening. The trust has been promoting composting as an effective alternative to the intensive of use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals that are polluting the lagoon and water lens.

'Alafoki Lilo, one of 10 original householders participating in the IWP composting trials says the project has provided an opportunity for people to learn how to keep their water and sea clean by reusing our green waste.

“In our garden, we now have a composting box (an open wooden box) with three sections. We throw our organic waste into the first section each day. We turn the waste over and add water to it once a week. After three weeks we move that waste into the second section and start adding fresh organic waste the first section. We do the same thing and, after three more weeks, the heap in the third box has turned into compost and we can use it for gardening,” he says.
Fakaosi says the results of the trial are now paying off for participating householders. “With the seedlings, compost and natural fertiliser, 'Alafoki and the other householders are now able to enjoy a more healthy diet from their organic produce in their backyard, free from agricultural chemicals and free of charge.”

Fakaosi says composting could provide a way to save money, return nutrients to the soil, contribute to the protection of cultural trees, and protect the environment in the long term.

“The trials are only in their early days, but things look promising. The number of households participating in the trial has recently jumped from 10 to 38, so people must be starting to see the benefits of getting involved,” he says.

 

For further information please email Sione Fakaosi, National Coordinator IWP Tonga at nciwpton@kalianet.to