Africa-Press – Namibia. ONE of the greatest challenges facing Namibia today is environmental pollution through physical littering. This was spelled out by the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, during the commemoration of the World Clean-up Day held in Katima Mulilo on Saturday.
Shifeta stated that pollution through littering remains the biggest challenge in Namibia due to limited resources and capacity at regional, local authorities, settlement and village council level.
As a result, every year Namibia joins the global community on World Clean-up Day to observe the day set aside annually for cleaning the country and creating a clean and healthy world.
Shifeta explained that his ministry is implementing activities that will ensure the protection of the environment, together with everything in it, for the benefit of the current and future generations.
He added that this is done through forming partnerships with key stakeholders in the civic, public and the private sectors. “Partnerships are crucial in environmental protection because in our respective rights, we undertake activities that have impact on the environment,” he added.
Shifeta, however, added that there is still a huge concern of non-adherence to the provisions of the Environmental Management Act, particularly when it comes to waste management and disposal.
“As a country we seem to be failing to manage the waste we are generating in our businesses, residences and homes, thereby threatening the functionality of the environment,” he said.
He indicated that the environment is a source of livelihood for many Namibians and if disturbed, it may lose its ability to support people. He urged Namibians to adopt sustainable lifestyles and to safeguard the environment so as to secure their livelihoods.
Shifeta then called on the business community to get involved in the activities of collection, reuse and recycle and to get into partnerships with local authorities in order to contribute to the cleaning of their respective towns as part of their corporate social and environmental responsibilities.
