AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Director General of the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), Dr Samuel Gwamaka, said yesterday that his just-ended visit of Southern Highlands Regions showed that some environment officers did not perform their duties property, while others did not report environmental problems early.
He told reporters that if problems were reported early, corrective measures would be taken in time and would be effective. Reporting on environment would be one of criteria for measuring the performance of an environment officer.
“We learnt that our officers were not discharging their duties properly, in some cases there was outright negligence… they must report problems early and reports must be sent to NEMC offices and the Vice-President’s Office, Environment section,” he said.
Dr Gwamaka failure to solve environmental problems could injure people’s health and impair economic production.
The DG accompanied the Chairman of NEMC Board of Directors, Professor Esnati Chaggu on the regional tour.
He said environment officers must ensure environment is protected from street/village level, division, municipal to regional levels.
“Our officers are expected to be accountable in their respective areas and send reports on their findings. When our officers perform poorly, it is community that suffers. It is high time people change,” he cautioned.
Dr Gwamaka said negligent officers would be punished. He said also NEMC’s emergency response team worked for 24 hours.
