The Suva City Council (SCC) has stressed that the $25 fees per annum for rubbish collection is to bear the extra cost of collecting rubbish from each household and dumping it at the the Naboro landfill.

The Media Liaison Officer for SCC Jillian Hicks said whatever extra money the council is paying each time the rubbish is dumped is not a normal expense for SCC as the Lami rubbish dump was administered by the council before thus the cost was not felt.

However, she said the council has to pay $24.95 gate fees per tonne each time it enters Naboro landfill which is an added cost to the Council.

She said the new fee has now been gazetted by the government and is now law.

The new fees come into effect from 1st January next year.

Hicks comment comes after some ratepayers complained to Fijivillage that they are already paying about $600 to $1000 in city rates to the council and the new fees of $25 will be an extra burden on them.

They question why the SCC cannot cover the garbage fees within the city rates.