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Engage media in EIA, civil societies urged
2008-04-28 09:28:43
By Nasser Kigwangallah
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been urged to involve the media in their activities to efectively disseminate information on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) issues to the public.
The call was made by Executive Director of South African Institute for Environmental Assessment (SAIEA), Peter Tarra, at a one day technical course for Civil Societies and Journalists in Dar es Salaam last Saturday.
Training on guiding and reviewing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), one of its kind to be conducted by the Institute, was funded by the World Bank Institute.
Tarra stressed that it was vital for rigorous campaigns to be initiated from the grassroots if countries want to see real progress in environmental campaigns.
He said the course on environmental assessment issues aimed at creating awareness and providing knowledge among civil society members was necessary to enable them play a greater role and influence as policy makers in development plans.
He said inadequate awareness campaigns on environmental cleanliness issues, for example, were an impediment to sustainable preservation of environment in the Southern African Region as a whole.
Tarra said journalists being eyes of the public, could make a significant impact on the whole process if they were involved fully.
He appealed to NGOs not to do things in camera, but instead engage the media in their activities to win the confidence of the public and the government.
One of the participants, Victoria Ferdinand, from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), was of the view that such campaigns would hardly achieve the desired goals.
She said inept decision-making by policy makers contributed to environmental degradation and made the whole process of environmental preservation difficult.
Ferdinand called on NGOs, individual companies and the public in general to be given teeth to root out corruption among government officials, who contributed a great deal to performing below the target.
She said environmental degradation should be considered as a crime against humanity and should be prosecuted in the court of law.
``When a company or an individual entity dumps, for example, a toxic substance that pollutes the environment and harms the people and other living creatures, the offence should be considered as crime against humanity and the person or company should be prosecuted in the court of law,`` she stressed.
Abdallah Ramadhan, another participant from Envirocare, urged journalists to be honest in carrying out their duties.
He said many journalists were bent on asking people for money, contrary to their professional ethics.
Ramadhan, however, promised to engage journalists in all activities his organisation would carry in future.
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