Virgílio Hornai said the rubbish-dumping site at Tibar was overflowing putting both the local environment and people living near by it at risk.

 “I think to avoid this matter, the government has to produce another rubbish site,” Hornai said in parliament on Tuesday.

He said the local community had been “recklessly” burning the rubbish that was now littering their community in an attempt to get rid of it and stop threat of disease decaying rubbish can cause.

Inocêncio Xavier, a researcher at the Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), said developers had an obligation to ensure the local environment was not negatively impacted by their work.

 The spike in rubbish at Tibar comes amid ongoing construction of the Tibar Bay Port Project.