BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRE) has exhorted the public to try alternative ways to dispose their garden waste and not through open burning.

Martinah Hj Tamit, JASTRE’s Head of Environmental Planning and Management Division said one way of reusing garden waste was turning it into fertilisers through composting.

In a recent interview, she said the department had previously carried out training courses for the public on how to compost their waste into fertilisers.

She added that the department would facilitate more workshops if the public were keen to participate.

“Our department itself does composting from all the landscaping we do, and we can teach the public on how to carry out composting through workshops,” she said.

The department’s head said if every household conduct open burning, it will contribute to air pollution in the country.

“Many have said they were only burning a bit of green waste but they do not understand that if every household does open burning, it will have a negative impact nationwide through the air.

“What we want is for the public to understand that open burning is causing them to suffer as well.

She said open burning offenders usually blame their helpers or garderners for open burning when the department makes inspections.

“We fine commercial outlets that conduct open burning when we do our ground surveillance. We do not fine those who do backyard burning on the spot. We give them a warning first and they comply most of the time,” she said.

Two commercial institutions were prosecuted in court due to large-scale burning, Martinah added.

Apart from teaching the public how to compost their green waste, the department already provides alternatives to open burning, such as a landfill to dispose waste.

“We also have house-to-house collection, where they can engage contractors to collect their waste, rather than burn their waste.

“The public need to know that the government has already spent a lot of money in having the landfill and land transfer station in Sungai Akar, it is about time they support the government initiative,” she said.

The Brunei Times