Tonga is one step away from having spot fines for litter and waste offences.
Photo: RNZI
The Legislative Assembly has passed the Environment Management Amendment Bill and once it gets Privy Council approval, litterers will receive the same infringement notices as traffic offenders.
The Environment Minister Siaosi Sovaleni says the move comes after a major cleanup that preceded this year's coronation celebrations.
He says it showed how beautiful the kingdom could be.
"There's a general consensus that Tonga needs to be more proactive in keeping its environment clean and hopefully this is more of a deterrent rather than a revenue raising measure."
Siaosi Sovaleni says the new laws should be in place by the end of the year.
