Uganda will join the rest of the world to celebrate World Environment

Minister  for Water and Environment

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Uganda on the June 5, 2018 will join the rest of the world to celebrate World Environment’s day. The national celebrations will be hosted by Mbale district at the Mbale Cricket Grounds.

Writes  Samuel Nabwiiso , the WED is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment through the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) According to the statement from the Ministry of water and Environment signed by the Minister of water and Environment Hon Sam Cheptoris said this year’s event will be celebrated under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

 In line with this year’s theme, the national celebrations will specifically focus on exploring alternatives to avoidable single use polythene carrier bags commonly known as kaveera, which have become a menace to our environment

. “These polythene bags take hundreds of years to decompose and as such pollute our soils, becoming a threat to agriculture which is the backbone of Uganda’s economy. Kaveera also pollute our lakes & rivers, is a threat to marine life, have caused loss of livestock, both domestic and wild and as such hinder a  number of economic activities that are a source of livelihood to many communities” The Minister  said in statement

  

The unsafe use and indiscriminate disposal of polythene bags has been well documented to be toxic and harmful to human health, as such practices have been listed among causes of no communicable diseases such as respiratory infections, High Blood Pressure and cancer.

Mbale district once enjoyed the status of the cleanest town in East Africa. Also referred to as the ‘Jewel of East Africa’ at the time, Mbale had one of the most efficient waste management systems, but not anymore. Currently the sustainable garbage disposal systems and practices are deficient, partially as a result of the increasing population and the indiscriminate litter of plastics especially the plastic carrier bag

Since its inception in 1974, WED has developed into a global platform to raise awareness and prioritize the need for immediate personal, institutional, national and international interventions to protect the environment from the realities of Climate Change.

The World Environment day celebration will be coordinated by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)T.

To create more awareness about the Environment al issues in the Country  NEMA has organized a number of activities to mark WED; including a tree planting campaign, city/town clean ups across the country, public  dialogues and environment awareness marathons in the districts of Mbale, Gulu and Mbarara among others.

 The World Environments day celebrations comes when the country’s Environment is facing huge challenge such as depletion natural resources such as forest cover  across the country , destruction of wetlands , pollution from Industries and poor disposal of wastes generated  in most urban towns .