Our environment needs care
PAUL ARUHO

Many Ugandans don’t know how important caring about the environment is. Nobody seems to mind about the ecosystems of our country, putting our lives at a risk. A visit to any town in Uganda today reveals an aspect of waste management problem. Heaps of uncontrolled garbage, roadside litter with refuse, streams blocked with junk, disposal sites constitute a health hazard to residential areas.

I was walking with a Rwandese friend in Kampala of recent who asked me why Ugandans don’t mind about the environment. In Rwanda it is a policy that you cannot enter through its boarders with a plastic bag. He said our great grand children would blame us for not protecting the environment for them.

According to United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) waste management is the collection, transportation, processing or disposal of waste materials, usually produced by human activity, in an effort to reduce their effect on human health.

Plastic bags have become a menace all over and no body is telling us how dangerous they are. Our leaders have concentrated on other issues leaving the environment at the mercies of God. The plastic bags, which are so thin, are simply thrown away after one trip from the shops. They have become a familiar eyesore in both urban and countryside areas. These bags block gutters and drains, choke animals and marine wildlife and pollute the soil as they gradually breakdown.

All over the country, there has been increased generation of volumes of garbage and the effective of their management is declining. Waste is either indiscriminately thrown away at various dumping sites on the periphery of urban centres or at a number of so called temporary sites-typically empty lots scattered throughout the country.
These open landfills often have serious environmental impacts that extend beyond the boundaries putting nearby water sources and serving as breed grounds for disease-bearing rodents and insects.

Waste management in our towns is an essential public service, which benefits all residents. It represents one of the major challenges in all towns in the country, which requires a lot of attention from authorities.
It beats my understanding somebody to be called an international investor who has set up a factory of polythene bags.

The situation in respect of waste management in Uganda is particular severe. The public sector is unable to deliver services effectively and illegal dumping of domestic and industrial waste is a common practice. There is need to strengthen the capacity for solid waste management in Uganda through the management programmes such as waste minimisation, recycling and reuse and ensuring environmental sound proposals.

Government’s intervention is needed so fast in dealing with the manufacture of plastic bags. There is need to formulate policies outlining ways to conserve the environment by reducing the quantities of discarded plastic carrier bags, through discouraging the use of thinner, easily breakable plastic bags and promoting stronger, thicker bags.

Many times I get disturbed seeing people leaving supermarkets with black plastic bags. These supermarkets do not put an extra cost for the bag. There is need to separate the cost of the plastic bag from the cost of goods sold. This may be could force our people to carry shopping bags.

Lessons to learn from

Some countries have become strict in protecting the environment. Strong and strict measures are put in place to make sure that the environment is kept clean for the generations to come.

In 2002, Ireland imposed a 15 Euro cent or surcharge on plastic bags provided by stores and shops. It is estimated that this has reduced the use of plastic bags by 90%. The revenue raised goes to an Environmental Fund, which plans to spend 35m Euros on recycling centres. The introduction of so-called Plas Tax Scheme has been backed up by public awareness campaigns.

Rwanda banned plastic less than 100 microns thick and backed this up with public awareness campaign. Reports from there say that the black polythene bag has disappeared in Kigali.

In 2003 South Africa banned plastic bags thinner than 30 microns and introduced a plastic levy some of which goes to plastic bag recycling company. It has witnessed a decrease in bag litter, a reduction in the manufacture of plastic bags with some layoffs and growth in alternatives such as canvass bags.

The government need to start with workshops where major stakeholders and interested parties could came together to discuss what has come to be known as the "Plastics Menace." These workshops could initiate a discussion amongst the government, private sector, and general public on how the problem of plastic bag pollution can be remedied.