I’m being a little facetious, but what really grabbed my attention was when Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, graced us by officially opening the Slum Diaries workshop, she alluded to the fact that women in slums are reported to suffer bladder infections because they have to hold back for abnormally long periods due to a lack of sanitation facilities to relieve themselves.
The workshop itself was highly informative and productive, succeeding in bringing together experts from around the globe and in particular I will make mention of the UN-Habitat expert team and the TVE partners from India, China and Nigeria who were also present. It was a brainstorming workshop and recommendations were drawn out that are currently being compiled for action –
On both a sad note and, more congratulatory, happy note, Grace Madoka (Deputy General Manager) will be leaving ACE for a new position in the government - Enock Chinyenze, Regional Coordinator for Africa - TVE
Kenya: Now Nairobi Bans Smoking in Public
The Nation (Nairobi), 11 July 2007, Posted to the web 11 July 2007, Mike Mwaniki
Nairobi has now banned smoking in public places. In a raft of new by-laws approved by Local Government minister Musikari Kombo, the City Council of Nairobi now provides for the arrest and prosecution of any person found smoking in public in contravention of World Health Organisation guidelines.
Nairobi now joins Nakuru and Mombasa in imposing total ban on smoking. Yesterday, the city council's director of legal services, Ms Mary Ng'ethe, said those found smoking in public will be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh2,000 or six months imprisonment for first offenders. "For second or subsequent offenders, the fine will not exceed Sh3,000 or nine months imprisonment or both," she added. According to experts, exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is harmful and has become a global epidemic that kills over five million people worldwide every year.
Health assistant minister Enock Kibugunchy says research had shown that "for every smoker who dies, another life of a passive smoker is also lost." According to the revised by-laws contained in the Kenya Gazette dated July 6, customers found buying goods from hawkers in "non-designated" areas within the central business district will be arrested and prosecuted.
On polythene carry bags (plastic papers), the by-laws require vendors to wrap goods in papers of a thickness not less than 30 microns. According to the by-laws, any person handling food should refrain from smoking or spitting.
Touting for passengers, prostitution, hooting (except in the case of emergency), spitting or blowing nose on any footpath, defecating or urinating on the street or any open space is also illegal.
The Kenya Gazette
Gazette Notice no. 5826
The Constitution of Kenya Public Complaints Standing Committee: Appointment
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 23 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya, I, Mwai Kibaki, President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya, appoint … Grace Madoka… to be members of the Public Complaints Standing Committee, for a period of three (3) years. – Date: 21 June 2007
General Environment News
Legal brief Environmental: Garbage a problem for Monrovia - Date: Tue 10 July 2007
The UN Environment Programme has called on the government and private sector to repair Liberia’s inefficient system for collecting trash, according to a report on the IRIN site.
‘Solid waste management is arguably the greatest public health threat in Monrovia,’ UNEP’s Michael Cowing said. Cowing, who has studied the environment and sanitation challenges in Liberia, recently met hundreds of members of the public and private sectors, urging them to collaborate to tackle the problem of waste. While some laws are on the books, there is currently no enforcement or monitoring, Cowing added. ‘Environmental legislation and enforcement must be strengthened,’ he said.
Moving to Uganda, where the Kampala City Council intends to implement the Waste Management Ordinance law in order to keep the city clean ahead of the Chogm summit in November, according to New Vision. The ordinance, which requires everyone to properly store solid waste until it is collected by a licensed disposal firm, came into effect in 2000 but has hitherto not been implemented. Another New Vision report notes that the country's National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has approved the construction of garbage recycling plants in nine towns. The $3m project has been funded by the World Bank's solid waste management component. Gerald Musoke, the NEMA deputy executive director, said this was a major step in managing garbage, adding that it would boost Uganda's quest for engaging in the carbon trade.
Bio-diesel production begins in Ghana
Accra, Ghana (PANA) – A community-based organization in the eastern region of Ghana has announced that it has started the production of bio- diesel in Ghana from palm kernel oil. The Dumpong Pineapple Growers Cooperatives said it was doing this in collaboration with its US partners, Dumpong Biofuels. According to the producers, the product has a better performance quality compared to petroleum diesel. They have started using the bio-diesel to power a generator and to fuel their official vehicles and it worked efficiently just like the petroleum diesel, officials told PANA Tuesday. Jerry Robock, Head of the US Dumpong Biofuels team, said that a simple processor to convert locally produced palm kernel oil into bio-diesel was assembled and a process known as "transesterification", which removes glycerine molecule from the oil, was used to extract the fuel. Robock said bio-diesel was more environmentally friendly than petroleum diesel and significantly reduced exhaust emissions and could be a major substitute for imported petroleum diesel fuel. He explained that the project, which cost about US$1,000 and was currently on a pilot basis, could be adopted in other communities to help cut down cost of fuel. He added that Dumpong Biofuel had come up with a strategy to take advantage of locally available oilseed crops to include atrophy and sunflower seed as well, to be converted into environmentally renewable and sustainable fuel to be used locally to replace imported diesel fuel.
South Africa: Green Scorpions Target Gauteng Polluters
Business Day (Johannesburg): The Gauteng conservation, agriculture and environment department issued a warning yesterday to wayward developers, the iron, steel and ferroalloy industry, and traders in endangered species, saying they were willing to take infringements to the courts. The comments were made by MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu during a press conference yesterday to launch a three-day blitz by the Gauteng's Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) or Green Scorpions as they are better known, on the eve of the unit's first birthday. EMI director Thabo Ndlovu said the blitz, which started on Sunday, would focus on the illegal trade in endangered species and on ensuring compliance with the law by developers and industry. http://allafrica.com/stories/200707100134.html
Kenya: Nobel Laureate to Address Vatican Conference
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi): Renowned Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Wangari Maathai, will address an international conference on the pastoral care of elderly sick people, being organized by the Vatican. Prof Maathai accepted an invitation by the Holy See last week during a meeting with the apostolic nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin, who paid her a courtesy call in her office. Archbishop Lebeaupin explained that the 21st international conference will be held November 15-17, and will attract various distinguished scientists and religious figures from all over the world. Participants will treat various topics related to health and Catholic teaching. Prof Maathai is scheduled to address the conference on the theme, Ecological Change and Old Age: Pollution of the Water: Pollution of the Environment. http://allafrica.com/stories/200707101011.html
Nigeria: Chlorine Gas From Water Plant Kills Three in Southeast
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks: A man walks past polluted farmland in Rukpokwu, Nigeria, January 2004. On 3 December 2003, part of an oil pipeline in Rukpokwu in Rivers State burst, devastating the once fertile land around it At least three people were killed when chlorine gas being used at a water treatment plant in Nigeria's southeastern Cross River state escaped into nearby homes, residents and state officials said.
New Netim, a small community in the Odukpani district of the state, adjoining the water treatment plant belonging to the Cross River State Water Board, was enveloped by clouds of chlorine gas on 5 July, leading to the death of three people, said resident Ufot James. "The dead included a woman and two men while several others were hospitalised," James said. Uma Echeghe, an official of the water board, said the gas escaped from one of 24 chlorine cylinders being used to treat water at the water-pumping station following a sudden power failure. But the official said only one death had been reported to the water board. http://allafrica.com/stories/200707100965.html
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| Enock Chinyenze Regional Coordinator for Africa Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) United Nations Environment Programme Division of Communications and Public Information P. O. Box 30552 Nairobi, Kenya Phone: +254 20 762 1551 Mobile: + 254 723 562900 Fax: + 254 20 762 3927 www.tve.org www.unep.org | |
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