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Industrial waste offenders should be dealt with head on
2007-02-19 10:05:51
By Editor
Protection of the environment is first and foremost a culture, which is reinforced by relevant laws and authorities.
In our society, for example, noise pollution is taken for granted as a normal occurrence.
Owners of drinking joints located in residential areas and preachers of all kinds out-do each other either through blaring music or prolonged torrents of prayer and songs.
The noise bombardment could go well past midnight for a series of days, without a single person or authority registering an official protest.
This is precisely an area where the culture of environment protection is lacking.
That is just one tip of the iceberg. The other problem concerns the disposal of non-hazardous residential waste in places like Dar es Salaam.
We acknowledge that some effort is already being made, especially in the city centre, but garbage collection in the suburbs leaves a lot to be desired.
In fact, people are just left to dispose of rubbish in the way they deem fit, which is usually not environmentally friendly.
If so much waste is generated by city residents per day, and the bulk is uncollected, then we have to agree that disease outbreaks which keep on occurring are in fact invited.
When it comes to industrial waste produced by factories, mills and other giant enterprises, the immediate question that arises is who shall bell the cat.
In Dar es Salaam, some factories are confidently disposing of their chemical waste-which could be toxic-into nearby streams which meander along residential areas.
There have been cases whereby affected residents have protested about being exposed to industrial and toxic waste, but these cries have continually gone unheeded. Where do they get this confidence?
The stronger the economic strength of the environment polluter, the near-to-impossible chances exist for the culprit to be taken to task by the relevant authorities.
On the other hand, the government has-in effect-banned the use of plastic bags used for shopping, a move that could have invited the flooding of canvas or paper bags into the market.
However, the plastic bags are still very much around and alternative brands are not that visible. It seems that time will eventually erode the plastic bag ban.
Just the other day, the National Environmental Management Council announced the application of strict penalties against any individual who urinates in public, as the person will have to pay a one-million shillings fine.
The NEMC chairperson, quoting the 2004 Environment Act, also said that any institution which allows urine leakage from its premises shall be liable to a 5m/- fine.
NEMC also announced that a factory that pollutes the environment shall be liable to a fine between 30m/- and 50m/-.
All these envisaged measures are appropriate. However, any keen observer might comment that the weight of the law will most possibly be felt by ordinary people who violate the law rather than the heavyweights.
Proper management of industrial waste should be the top priority of the Council while it also grapples with petty offenders.
Apart from that, we urge NEMC to act against rampant noise pollution in urban centres across the country.
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