The co chairman of the Island Wide Clean up Committee, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency Ameko Pato says it’s evident that efforts to get residents to stop littering are not working.
He says this was clear from the sheer volume of trash, unused appliances, containers, furniture and other garbage collected from people’s yards.
Pato led the ASG team which cleaned up Iliili village today in response to the Zika outbreak.
Other villages included in today‘s Island Wide Clean Up are Tafuna and Leone.
Pato said the Keep American Samoa Beautiful Campaign was intended to get people to stop littering, but he said it was clear from what they saw that the message is not getting through.
He believes that if enforcement was strong and people who litter are fined, residents will change their habits and avoid paying.
The EPA director said the clean up today for his team was successful though some agencies did not show up.
He said dogs were a problem and some families didn’t want them on their property.
Pato says Iliili village will use Saturday to collect everything they want taken away, and on Monday their team will return with heavy equipment to remove them.
Pato reiterates the need to make families responsible for cleaning up their yards so it will not be necessary for government employees to clean up their trash.
He recommends stronger enforcement of litter laws in order to get people to change their habits and keep the island trash free which in turn would help stop the spread of mosquito borne diseases like Zika.
