Unlikely Heroes
I have an unusual collection of news reports this week that focus on the entertainment media and how they have been responding to climate change advocacy. Whilst I usually spotlight Africa alone, there is of course the international aspect and from next week I will be including an international environment news section.
If you have ever drawn up a list of this you never imagined would happen in your lifetime, you might need to append it and add The Simpsons (animated film), Jack Bauer (24), and Steve Carell (‘The Office’ TV series) as your new environment heroes. Popular television networks have, one by one, been announcing that they are going green. This last July however seemed to have an increase in incidence of this response and I can only attribute this to Al Gore’s ‘Live Earth’ rock concert. Whether the concert itself was a success or not is subjective and critics aren’t always kind in situations like this. When Al Gore’s journey ends (and I hope not anytime soon), he will always be remembered for championing climate change and targeting policy makers.
India plants 10.5 million trees in one day and this has now been acknowledged as the greenest day on their calendar ever. If you haven’t already heard about the ‘Billion Tree Campaign’ you should log onto http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/ immediately and you must pledge to plant trees or register the ones that you planted recently. UNEP website also features pictures uploaded by those you have planted trees on their homepage and you could just be a day’s hero.
The Commonwealth Peoples Forum (CPF) registration has begun and those of you we have invited to join us will be receiving more personalised information on the activities as they unfold. The output from the workshops, from which all invited APN partners will participate (in particular the media workshop), will be presented in a communiqué to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) for consideration in the decisions they will make in their closed meeting. Whilst we all look forward to this event, and I don’t want to raise expectations too high, but in light of my topical theme for this weeks newsletter if the activities are a success and resolutions carried forward by our leaders, then you too could be this year’s ‘unlikely hero.’ Enock Chinyenze, TVE Regional Coordinator – Africa
The Observer. 29 July 2007. The Simpsons Movie. Philip French
Ecowarriors lynch hapless Homer as The Simpsons migrate to the big screen. Along the way their entertaining odyssey fits in pigs, pollution and even President Arnie. Eat my Schwarz!
There are no doubt some people who, standing aloof from popular culture, think a film called The Simpsons Movie must be a prequel to 'Wallis and Edward: The Windsor Years'. Most, however, will recognise it as a big-screen spin-off from the TV animated show The Simpsons, initially created by Matt Groening as a filler cartoon for The Tracey Ullman Show in the late 1980s. They'll either be devoted fans who've been eagerly awaiting a cinematic version, or occasional viewers who recognise it as an inevitable but by no means momentous occasion.
In the event the film is enjoyable and reasonably inventive. As with many films nowadays (Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for instance), the audience is expected to be conversant with the setting and characters. Thus the movie has a pre-credit sequence featuring Itchy and Scratchy, the blue mouse and black cat, a parody of violent cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and the Roadrunner films where animal characters get flattened and blown up. They are regularly watched on TV by the Simpson family but here they are seen in a cinema by Bart, Lisa and their parents, Marge and Homer. Homer gets up and asks why anyone would be stupid enough to pay to see something available for free on TV. A smarter question than those the dumb Homer usually asks. The film-makers try to answer it over the next 87 minutes before the Simpsons appear in a movie audience again, this time watching the final credits. Unlike most of the audience I saw it with, they remain in their seats because sensitive liberal Lisa won't leave until she's seen the announcement that no animals were hurt during the making of the picture.
The film's chosen theme - not a new one in the series - is the threatened environment. In the picture's first major parody, US rock group Green Day, on a floating bandstand in the local beauty spot Lake Springfield, are attempting to preach a lesson on environmental protection while polluted waters eat away the stage. Swapping their guitars for violins, they play 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' as the raft sinks like the Titanic. At a memorial service for the band, Grandpa has a vision of an impending apocalypse and the concerned Lisa decides to lead a campaign to clean up the lake. In the film's second sharp parody she addresses the complacent citizens of Springfield on 'An Irritating Truth'. Cleverly skewering the gimmicky folksiness of Al Gore, she gets stuck on a rising ramp used to accompany a giant graph.
Despite Springfield and its wily mayor having fenced off the lake, Homer dumps a load of dangerous pig excrement in it, produced by the porker he's fallen in love with. The resultant pollution creates mutant creatures out of a horror movie. This comes to the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency, whose manipulative chief gets newly elected President Arnold Schwarzenegger to cocoon Springfield by offering him five alternative plans, none of which he actually looks at. 'I was elected to lead, not to read,' says Arnie. A little unfair perhaps to the Governor of California, who's been converted to good causes during the time this film has been in production. The upshot is that Homer becomes a pariah, mobs march on his home and he escapes with the family to start a new life in Alaska, advertised as 'a place where you can't be too fat or too drunk'.
The movie sags somewhat at this point, possibly due to the need to develop a larger narrative and capture the sympathies of a wider audience who don't quite get the knife-edged postmodern satire the TV series plays on. Al Jean, one of the programme regular writers and co-producers, has said that it was necessary for the film that: 'Each Simpson family member has a story arc of growth and redemption, even the baby. We wanted the film to hold audiences emotionally through the end, and that was perhaps our biggest struggle. The Simpsons Movie also had to have big scenes, locations and themes.'
Unless he's having us on, this is a trifle solemn and self-important, and leads to a tale in which the ever-loving Marge and her children desert Homer and leave him to what is inevitably called his odyssey, a journey home to reconciliation and an earned heroism. Unlike the South Park team, the makers of The Simpsons Movie haven't used the freedom of the cinema to shock or offend.
It is customary in the TV series to feature cameo appearances by real-life figures ranging from Tony Blair and Stephen Hawking to Michael Moore and Jerry Springer. This follows on from the likes of Richard Nixon and John Wayne mocking themselves in a mild way on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In, which back in the late Sixties and early Seventies passed for satire on American TV. In The Simpsons Movie the lead guest star is Tom Hanks, present 'to lend credibility to government policy' on the environment. He's fairly amusing and clearly being a good sport. However, my favourite moment in the film comes when Springfield is faced with disaster and possibly extinction. The congregation rushes from the church into the bar next door in search of a stiff drink. They pass the habitues of Moe's Tavern, fleeing in the opposite direction to make their peace with God in church.
The simple, highly stylised animation is a pleasant change from the overly smooth, realistic style of current CGI animation, and happily Marge's blue bouffant hairdo remains intact. A whole battalion of Korean artists have been recruited to help out, and the director is David Silverman, who's been associated with The Simpsons for 20 years but has also worked on animated pictures in a different mode, among them Robots, Monsters, Inc. and The Ice Age. Ultimately, perhaps, the graphic and comic styles are better suited to the shorter TV format. I laughed sporadically at this enjoyable film. The other night on TV I watched a Halloween edition of The Simpsons featuring parodies of Child's Play, King Kong and Night of the Living Dead, and zombie versions of Washington, Shakespeare and Einstein. It had me constantly roaring with laughter and left me full of admiration.
The Independent. 6 August 2007. Jack Bauer, the hero of '24', takes on global warming. Stephen Foley, New York
The battle against climate change has just got its toughest new recruit: Jack Bauer, hero of the TV show 24. The programme's creators, Fox, are promising their next series will introduce a host of environmentally-friendly production measures, as the industry gropes for ways to make carbon neutral television.
The producers will swap diesel generators at the studio for electric power and buy the electricity from renewable sources, and put the crew in hybrid vehicles or convert the giant production trucks to biodiesel. And global warming will be incorporated into the plot, too, once again putting Hollywood in the forefront of bringing the issue to public attention in America. A Fox spokesman insisted the carbon reductions were real, not a publicity stunt to promote the show's upcoming storylines.
By cutting its carbon footprint by a planned one-twentyfourth, the show is expected to heavily publicise a "carbon-neutral" season finale when it is aired next summer. Filming is to start in the next few weeks. "Global warming is a crime for which we are all guilty, from our cars, our homes and our workplaces," said Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Jack Bauer. "All of us at 24 understand the urgency of this problem and, over the next year, we will be implementing creative new ways to produce our show and significantly reduce our carbon footprint." Sutherland will also present a series of public education videos designed to highlight simple measures that people can take to reduce their own contributions to global warming.
CNET. 17 July 2007. "The Office" Going Green?
Somewhat weird news, but I think it gives us an opportunity to flex our creative muscles a bit...
The initial fan response to this news has been, shall we say, mixed. Some seem to have faith in the show's writers, but most are knocking NBC for throwing a political message into a big chunk of its programming. Personally, I fall into the former category, at least with regards to "The Office." My feeling is, the writers of this show have never let us down before, so why would they start now? While an eco-friendly storyline might seem forced for some shows, the fact that "The Office" focuses on a paper company should actually make it quite easy to work the message into the show - in a funny way, no less.
John Krasinski didn't have any trouble making the environmentally-friendly connection with Dunder-Mifflin. In fact, he joked about it with the media on Monday. "We're a paper company, so we're screwed."
So with that all being said...I have two questions for you to consider.
1. What are your general thoughts on this news?
2. How would you work this into a funny and sensible storyline on the show?
BBC. 17 July 2007. Bishop of Manchester: The Bishop's 'going green'
The Bishop of Manchester has joined the Hollywood trend by taking delivery of a new hybrid car. Hybrid cars, which are all the rage in Hollywood, are driven by actors such as George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio. The Bishop is believed to be one of the first clerics in the country opting to drive a Toyota Prius, which uses an engine that is driven by both petrol and electricity. Bishop Nigel McCulloch said, "I am in the middle of a three-year pilgrimage, travelling hundreds of miles a year visiting every parish in my diocese.
"Buying a hybrid car made sense; not only is it very economical but emissions are greatly reduced leading to less pollution. "These are important issues for any city, I hope others will consider 'going hybrid' when choosing a car for business travel or even the school run." Commenting on the driving experience, the bishop said, "It is a very different travelling in a hybrid. "At traffic lights, your engine is switched off by the onboard computer. As you pull away, there is still no engine noise as the batteries kick in. The car computer shows 99 miles per gallon at times as it switches silently between electricity and petrol fuel."
The Bishop's move is part of a nationwide initiative by the Church of England to raise awareness of climate change. 'Shrinking the Footprint' is a campaign that aims to involve all churches by asking them to take part in an Energy Audit, which will help the church to reduce their carbon footprint by 2008.
Courant.com 25 July 2007. TV Eco Push: Very Verde. Do not adjust the tint control on your television. Roger Catlin
Networks are going green voluntarily.
And if that doesn't mean they are messing with the TV color pallet, they're initiating environmental changes in the way they do business in an effort to help the planet.
Weeks after the LiveEarth concerts held world wide to demonstrate how viewers can change habits to possibly slow climate change (concerts that didn’t do all that great in the ratings, by the way), networks have been taking time to explain their individual efforts to go green, or at least greener, as part of the campaign.
That means not only more reporting on environmental issues at places like CNN, whose four hour documentary ''Planet in Peril'' runs in October, but infusing entertainment programs with the similar messages. NBC, for one, announced a week in which all of its primetime shows will have a green theme.
Finally, networks explained how they'll change the way they do business in order to lessen their environmental harm, including Fox network's plan to ditch limos for hybrid cars at the Emmy Awards in September, or save enough fuel during season-long changes at ''24'' such that its finale will be entirely ''carbon neutral.'' Ahead of the curve in some ways has been the Sundance Channel, which announced plans for a second season of its environmental series it started earlier this year under the title ''Robert Redford Presents the Green.'' Second seasons for the documentary series of information and encouragement, ''Big Ideas for a Small Planet,'' ''Ecoists,'' ''Eco-Biz'' and the BBC import ''It’s Not Easy Being Green'' were announced for second seasons next year.
''The programming has been well-received, and we are pleased to renew all of the programs in the block, which will continue on a 52-week-a-year basis,'' Laura Michalchyshyn, executive vice president and general manager of programming at Sundance Channel told reporters at press tour. Michael Williams, an executive producer of ''Big Ideas for a Small Planet,'' said in a release that ''the first season was just the tip of the melting iceberg of terriffic stories about the dedicated movers and shakers on the environmental front.''
A day earlier, Discovery networks had upped the ante by announcing plans for a whole network dedicated to the subject, starting in early 2008. Planet Green will take its place alongside the network’s History, Science, Animal Planet and Travel Channels as ''a 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network.'' Its first project is a 13-part series describing the rebuilding of the tiny Kansas town destroyed by a tornado in May, replacing it with with ''a sustainable model of eco-living and one that will save it from future environemtal catastrophe.'' Produced in part by Leonardo DeCaprio, the destroyed town already had a name that fit into the campaign – Greensburg.
The press tour itself, usually an exercise of excess in paper and food, with the air conditioning cranked to arctic levels, showed some changes from years past.
A party thrown by The CW had a green theme, with environmental hints as part of the décor. And Fox promised “the eco-friendliest TCA presentation of the tour,” Fox publicity chief Joe Earley said.
It involved providing computer flash drives instead of the usual binders of information, using recycled paper annd pens, lanyards made from recycled bottles, and a party at the Santa Monica pier using alternative energy, with stars arriving in hybrid cars and a Ferris wheel called ''the country’s first run on solar power.''
Fox also announced plans to have ''an eco-friendly and carbon-neutral'' Emmy Awards ceremon Sept. 16, using recycled materials where possible, hybrid vehicles, reducing power requirements and using alternative energy sources for its elements and replacing production golf carts with bicycles.
Plans were also announced for a eco-friendly season of the series ''24'' when it starts up in January, using biodiesel fuels to power generators and production vehicles; power from renewable sources such as wind, water and solar; use of electric generators instead of diesel-fueled; and using hybrid vehicles. The goal was to save enough energy to make the show’s finale the first to be entirely carbon neutral.
More than that, the environmental message will be part of the show ''when appropriate, incorporating the issue of global warming and the importance of carbon emission reduction into storylines,'' a release said.
Changing content was a major part of a green gauntlet thrown by Lauren Zalaznick of Bravo, announcing plans for an initiative on all the networks owned by NBC Universal, as part of a corporation-wide effort started by their owner GE. A weeklong ''Green is Universal'' campaign from the NBC Universal Green Council Nov. 4-11 will feature entirely ''green-themed programming'' and consumer events, involving its networks, websites and theme parks. ''It's our first demonstration of kind of our individual responsibility, our collective responsibility, and maybe most importantly our corporate responsibility to change the way we think and hopefully change the way we and other people act,'' Zalaznick said. ''For the future, I'm really envisioning more than just a week even though that's a lot.
''We may not change the world in a week, but 'Green is Universal' is a huge commitment for us,'' Zalaznick said. ''We will have every single one of our primetime shows with storylines themed to green with our characters from Michael Scott to "The Journeyman" being agents of change and being pro-active, positive, green members of our going-green society,” NBC Entertainment co-president Ben Silverman said. Not only will the event be marked by shows from the ''Today'' show to ''The Tonight Show,'' Silverman said he himself would also carpool that week.
The campaign and its requirements for green-themed episodes seemed to be news to many of the network’s producers, though.
''Green-themed episodes?'' wondered Dick Wolf, producer of the ''Law & Order'' series of shows. ''Crime isn't very green.'' ''I would assume the burden is less for comedies because I would doubt that any show here is going to be preachy, and is going to handle it in a comedic way,'' said ''Scrubs'' creator Bill Lawrence. ''Although 'Law & Order' is usually pretty funny, I doubt they'll do the same jokes that we all do.'' ''We're screwed,'' said John Krasinski, cast member of ''The Office.'' ''We're a paper company. We're going to get hammered.'' The whole thing could get out of hand, ''My Name is Earl'' creator Greg Garcia suggested. ''If they turn off their TVs,'' he said, ''think about how much energy that will save.''
The Economist. 26 July 2007. Precious goes to Hollywood. GABORONE
From The Economist print edition
A small African country steps into the limelight
AT THE foot of Kgale Hill in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, the fully equipped Last Chance hair salon and several shops opened their doors earlier this month. Local residents tried to get haircuts and make some purchases. But they were turned away: the buildings, looking rather weathered despite being new, are a film set, erected in a few weeks out of the bush. “The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency”, Alexander McCall Smith's bestselling novel, set in Botswana, is making it to the screen.
Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe
This is the first film to be entirely shot in Botswana. Anthony Minghella—of “The English Patient” fame—is directing, and an American singer, Jill Scott, plays the heroine, the no-nonsense Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only female detective. The film will first be shown on British television, before being distributed worldwide. A series is then expected to be shot at the same location.
Botswana, a country almost the size of Texas with 1.6m people, is known for its diamonds, wildlife and stunning landscapes, but movies are something new. Yet Amy Moore, the American producer, wanted the film to be shot there. “Botswana is a character in this movie,” she says. “Not shooting it here would be ripping the heart out of the project.”
The government, keen to attract more tourists and kick-start a film industry to create jobs beyond mines and tourism, has invested about $5m in the film, about 40% of the total budget. The novels themselves have already done a lot to put Botswana, already a high-end safari destination, on a bigger tourist map. Foreigners who had never heard of the country are coming, charmed by the spirit of Ms Ramotswe's world. Africa Insight, a local tour operator, started literary tours in 2003, adding on to their usual safaris visits to the detective's village, her house in Gaborone and other real-life locations that are featured in the books. And bookings have been taken until October next year.
But as for building a film industry, Botswana will struggle to compete with neighbouring South Africa, where blockbusters such as “Blood Diamond” and “Hotel Rwanda” have been filmed in part, attracted by financial incentives and local talent. Even so, the future for this film at least looks rosy. On a trip to Botswana last year the producer consulted a local witch-doctor about the film. “This is going to be a long journey,” asserted the toothless elder, “but a successful journey.”
UNEP. 31 July 2007. The greenest day of the calendar in India and a tree planting record by 600,000 volunteers
10 million trees and a half planted in Uttar Pradesh in a single day
The Forest Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State of India, has succeeded in planting 10.5 million trees in a single day on 31 July 2007. This ambitious project, to which 600,000 people participated, was meant to raise the awareness of residents of the State towards the importance of tree-planting and the vital role of trees in correcting ecological imbalances, removing the environmental pollution and increasing tree cover. The decision to launch this unique operation was taken at the Governmental level.
The saplings were planted by school children, the local population, farmers, industrial units, government departments and the forest department. The object of the exercise was to make tree plantation a people's participatory activity with people from a vast cross-section of society participating in the planting of the saplings at 9,320 different sites across the seventy districts of the State. Of these 43.72 % are farmer's sites, 9.14% forest department's sites, 38.01% educational institution's sites, 6.33% other government department's sites and rest sites are of other institutions. The planting activity on all sites have been photographed and will be authenticated. For this 18640 independent authenticators have been mobilized.
The pits for planting were dug in advance and the plants to be planted were transported to the sites in order to be planted in one go on 31 July 2007. The entire activity was carefully sequenced and detailed guidelines were prepared in the form of booklet and widely circulated.
The whole effort of planting over ten million saplings on one day was coordinated centrally from the State capital at Lucknow. Detailed plans were prepared which included details of the sites along with GPS based locations, the species of saplings to be planted, the source of the seedlings, as well as the name of site coordinators, photographers and videographers.
In India, 31 July was an auspicious day as it represented the first day of Shrawan, according to the Hindu calendar. The exercise gave a boost to the Billion Tree Campaign. Organizers also recalled that the theme of World Environment Day 2007 was "Melting Ice - A Hot Topic" and the Forest Department of Uttar Pradesh will also help to address the issues of global warming, expansion of tree cover and carbon sequestration. There was large scale participation by many citizens and institutions by way of contributions in cash and kind for meeting the cost of plants, their transportation, payment of photographers etc. In many places the officers/staff of the forest department have voluntarily donated a day of salary for this purpose.
General News
IRIN. 2 August 2007. Rural living standards now apply in the capital. Harare, Zimbabwe
The lifestyle normally associated with an urban society is fast disappearing from Zimbabwe's once bustling capital, Harare. The city's 2.8 million residents are adopting a way of life more akin to the country's rural areas, where drinking water is drawn from shallow pits and electricity is all but unavailable, although the metropolitan area's population density has produced its own quirks, such as untreated sewage spilling onto the streets.
Nomusa Dube, a night shift nurse living in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town about 25km from Harare, told IRIN her daily routine started with the search for water. After queuing for three hours at a shallow well that is also a watering point for cows and donkeys, Dube finally fills her 20-litre container with muddy water at 2pm. She glances anxiously at her watch; she has an appointment at her home, 5km away, with a supplier who said he would deliver firewood at 3pm, about the same time a colleague promised to bring her some candles, which have become much harder to get.
She is in luck: by just after 4pm the firewood and the candles have been delivered, and she sets off on her two-hour walk to work, telling her colleagues on the way how successful her day has been. Dube is just one among millions of city dwellers adapting to the ruralisation of Zimbabwe's urban areas, brought on by the collapse of service delivery in an economy once described as one of the most promising in Africa.
No escape from the decay for the middle classes
In the capital's affluent areas of Chisipite, Borrowdale and Glen Lorne, erratic power supplies have turned electrical hobs and other appliances into little more than decorations, and dusk is greeted by clouds of smoke billowing from suburban homes as the well-heeled residents use wood-fired ovens for cooking their evening meal.
"With each passing day, we have forsaken and abandoned the basic comforts and lifestyles associated with living in an urban environment, particularly a capital city like Harare," said Dadirai Chimuko, who lives in Chisipite. "It is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish the difference between living in a rural area and an urban area, because the truth is that urban areas in Zimbabwe are fast becoming more and more like rural areas." She told IRIN that she had not had potable water for three months and had dug a shallow well on her property.
Electricity rationing has reduced availability to four hours a day, even for those with access to the power grid, since the national power utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), introduced daily 20-hour cuts. Sarudzai Muzenda, a resident of Glen View, a working-class suburb, told IRIN that having electricity for four hours a day did not mean they were better off than others, who received nothing. "The electricity comes in the middle of the night when we are asleep, and therefore is not of any benefit because we would have used firewood for cooking. In fact, the power cuts have come at a great inconvenience to many families whose household electrical goods have been destroyed as a result of power surges."
But it was the small comforts, taken for granted in the past, that Muzenda missed most, like an evening stroll or visiting friends in the neighbourhood. "Way before we started getting unreliable electricity supplies, the city authorities were not replacing expired street bulbs because of a lack of foreign currency," she told IRIN. "But now, at night, it is total darkness, and those who venture out have to travel in large groups for fear of being mugged."
ZESA's energy production relies mainly on thermal power stations, but its ability to do so is severely handicapped because it does not have the necessary finance to buy the coal from the Hwange Colliery Company, the sole supplier, or the foreign currency for spare parts to maintain its power stations. The power utility is producing less than half its normal output, and Zimbabwe relies on electricity imports from neighbouring South Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, although shortages of foreign currency have led to wrangling over payments in a region where economic demands are outpacing energy supplies.
Price controls
Zimbabwe is facing severe shortages of just about everything from water to petrol, and four out of five people are without jobs. According to international donors, in the coming months more than a quarter of its 12 million people will be living on food handouts. The government introduced price controls six weeks ago, ordering retailers and wholesalers to slash their prices by 50 percent. Stock flew off the shelves, only for the goods to reappear on the parallel market at prices even more expensive than before the government introduced price controls: foods like beef and chicken are almost unobtainable on the formal market, and beer is a rarity.
The attempt to curb hyperinflation resulted only in empty shop shelves. Inflation is estimated at over 4,000 percent, although some independent economists put the rate at 40,000 percent; if current economic trends prevail, the International Monetary Fund expects inflation to reach 100,000 percent by the end of the year.
A Zimbabwean manufacturer, who declined to be identified, told IRIN of the prevailing mood in the business sector: "We were told to sell our commodities at near give-away prices, but now we cannot afford to restock, so we hope the government will come with a rescue package to help us remain in business ... many have closed shop and many are considering doing the same."
Waterborne diseases
Mabvuku, one of Harare's high-density suburbs, is pockmarked with shallow wells, a consequence of potable water not being available in the area for the past six months.
"It looks like the municipal authorities and the government have abandoned us. Recently there was an outbreak of diarrhoea and several people died after drinking unsafe water," Constance Chiminya, a resident, told IRIN.
"Because authorities cannot provide the community with any form of water, we are now resorting to digging shallow unprotected wells, which we share with some animals." She said the authorities had brought in water bowsers when there were incidents of waterborne diseases, but once the outbreak was contained the bowsers were withdrawn.
In Kadoma, a mining town of 80,000 people about 140km south of Harare, 20 people died during an outbreak of diarrhoea in July. The United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) installed water tanks in the town's high-density suburbs and provided disinfectants to prevent further outbreaks. Precious Shumba, spokesperson for the Combined Harare Residents Association, told IRIN that service delivery had collapsed in the capital and the risk of the waterborne diseases was high.
"Many households have gone for months without water so, naturally, residents are not using their lavatories. They now use the bush to relieve themselves ... Unfortunately it is in the same bushes that shallow wells are dug to provide water for the residents. This creates a ticking health time-bomb because, in addition, refuse is not being collected, while burst sewer pipes are not being attended to on time."
The former elected executive mayor of Harare, Elias Mudzuri, told IRIN: "You see, when I was the mayor, we had some twinning arrangements with some cities around the world. Harare was twined with Munich, in Germany." Mudzuri, from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party, was replaced by commissioners appointed from the ranks of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government. "They [Munich] were ready to assist us with equipment for managing refuse collection, but they pulled out from the arrangement, saying they only dealt with elected city leaders," he said.
"It is scandalous that the capital of a country has raw sewage flowing in some streets, and that people go for weeks without water. How can the streets of the capital of the country be in total darkness because the commission managing the city abandons its role of lighting up the streets?"
New Vision. 31 July 2007 Uganda: 68,000 Treated Mosquito Nets Go Missing in Rakai. Ali Mambule, Kampala
SIXTY eight thousand treated mosquito nets worth sh102m have been stolen from Rakai district medical department stores. Malaria Consortium and Afford Health Marketing Initiative gave the mosquito nets to Rakai under the Malaria No More programmes funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Philemon Mubiru said the nets were recently found missing when they were being loaded onto trucks for delivery to centres at the sub-counties where they were to be distributed from. Business came to a standstill at the district headquarters when it was realised the nets were missing. The trucks that had already left for the distribution centres were called back, but later released.
The nets were meant for expectant mothers and children under the age of five in the sub-counties of Kasaali, Rakai town council, Kasasa, Kyebe, Kibanda, Nabigasa, Dwaniro and Kacheera.
The LC5 chairman Vincent Semakula; resident district commissioner George William Kagulire; the director for District Health Services, Robert Mayanja, Afford's Jacob Ochola and Mubiru, together with security personnel, called an abrupt meeting to trace the suspects. Mubiru confirmed that two people including a driver in the district medical department, Hamidu Sebaggala and a watchman, Dominic Kagaruki have been arrested pending investigation. Mayanja said the key suspect identified as Emmanuel Bwanika, the storekeeper, disappeared on learning that it had been discovered that the nets were missing. He said Bwanika, who received the nets in May, deceived his bosses that he was out for a workshop at Enro Hotel in Wabigalo Mityana district, but the Police failed to trace him.
Sebaggala told the Rakai district police chief, Juma Okungo, that he was instructed by Bwanika to carry ten bales of the nets to Zana in Kampala, saying Rakai had received excess nets which had to be returned to the supplier. Kagaruki told district officials that the nets were being loaded on private and district vehicles on Bwanika's directive and were being taken to Kampala. Afford insisted that Rakai district will have to either find the mosquito nets, or refund the sh102m which was used to purchase them. Usaid gave over 580,000 nets to Uganda to fight malaria. A total of 32,000 nets were for Rakai district.
The Economist. 2 August 2007. As you were: Peace, and now elections. But not much else to brag about. Freetown, Sierra Leone
AT LEAST the presidential and parliamentary elections on August 11th will be the first to be held without the help of international peacekeepers since the end of the civil war that lashed Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002. That is one welcome sign of progress. And since a British military intervention ended the conflict the country's 6m people no longer run the risk of sudden death at the hands of drugged-up child soldiers. But, five years of peace and hundreds of millions of dollars of aid money later, the issues that gave rise to the war in the first place are still as much in evidence as ever. And the elections, unfortunately, are not expected to change that.
Unemployment is close to 80%, poverty is widespread and corruption endemic. Any reform and improvement in daily life remain painfully slow. There are 300,000 more children in primary school than during the war, a few more paved roads and some electricity, but seven out of ten people still live on less than a dollar a day. The country has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world.
Where reform has been successful it has been led by foreigners. Take the army. Ill-disciplined soldiers looking to get rich with “blood diamonds” contributed mightily to the mayhem of the civil war. But since 2002 the army has been re-trained by Britain, the former colonial power. The army has been shrinking, but as one officer notes, “Every soldier we chuck out of the army is one more man unemployed and on the streets.”
Now that President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is standing down after two forgettable five-year terms, it would be reasonable to expect an injection of new faces and energy into the country's politics. But this will not be the case. Seven parties are contesting the elections, but only three count: the ruling SLPP, its traditional opponent, the All People's Congress, which ruled for 14 venal years under Siaka Stevens, and the new People's Movement for Democratic Change. This split from the SLPP and competes for the same ethnic heartland among the Mende people of the south and east. Since it is run by Charles Margai, nephew of the first prime minister and son of its second, there is little danger of new brooms sweeping through Freetown's shabby corridors of power.
The 69-year old presidential front-runner, Solomon Berewa, is the incumbent vice-president, renowned as a clever and cunning political operator. Some say he has been the real power behind the throne for years. He prefers to describe himself as a man with a proven track record. His critics say he is implicated in all of the current government's failures and shortcomings. “The problem”, says one, “is a small clique running corrupt patronage networks while providing zero services and Berewa will simply embed those networks.”
Stark evidence of what can be done with the right leader in charge comes from across the border in Liberia where Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is in her second year as president. She has tackled poor governance head-on, firing corrupt officials and removing ghost workers from the payroll. By contrast Sierra Leone's Anti-Corruption Commission is now a lame duck, having had its $2m annual funding suspended by exasperated British donors unhappy with the lack of progress. The replacement last year of an energetic former civil servant by the president's brother-in-law as head of the commission strengthened the perception that the government is not serious about tackling corruption. In fact, most agree, it is growing.
The argument goes that the terrible violence of the conflict is so recent and memories so raw that a return to war is unthinkable. But many people in Sierra Leone know only violence as a way to vent their frustration at a government that fails them time and again. With the arrival of peace this is no longer a failed state. It may, however, be a failing one.
Other Environment News
Kenya: Japanese Minister Supports Ban On Plastics
East African Standard (Nairobi): Former Japan Environmental minister, Mr Wakako Hironaka, has supported Kenya's ban on plastic bags. Accompanying Nobel laureate Prof Wangari Maathai to the Dandora dumping site, Hironaka said Japan was encouraging Maathai's 3R (Reuse, reduce, recycle) campaign and many Japanese companies were now embracing the scheme. The 3R campaign was introduced in Japan three years ago and it has been a great success. It has been dubbed Mottainai. "In Japan, Mottainai is a traditional concept often told to children by the older generation. The concept encourages people not to waste resources, to be grateful and respectful," said Hironaka. Said Maathai: "Mottainai campaigns in Japan are doing very well; many Japanese companies have joined the initiative and are now producing many different Mottainai products for sale, including shopping bags, to replace plastics."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708020950.html
Uganda: Delayed Funding Irks Forestry Donors
New Vision (Kampala): The biggest funders of the National Forestry Authority (NFA) have threatened to pull out if Government does not meet its funding obligation. The Government had promised sh1.65b but provided only sh230m for the years 2003 to 2008, according to the acting executive director, Hope Rwaguma. Addressing the parliamentary committee for natural resources, Rwaguma said the Government made this commitment to funders of NFA. These are the Norwegian government, the European Union, and the Department for International Development. NORAD, the Norwegian agency, provided sh8.7b and promised to increase the amount to sh10.9b if the Government honoured its obligation. "We are in a dilemma. If the donors pull out NFA may not operate," Rwaguma said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708020030.html
Namibia: Wildlife And Vegetation Legislation to Integrate
The Namibian (Windhoek): Efforts are being made to harmonise laws relating to community forests and communal conservancies in Namibia. While the two follow similar approaches, they are based on different laws and legislations, are implemented by different Ministries and have specific technical requirements for resource management. This often emerges as an obstacle when communities want to implement both components in one specific area, to benefit from both wildlife and vegetation. A stakeholders' workshop was held at Rundu in early July to look at possible options for an integrated approach to conservancies and community forests. Rolf Sprung of the German-Namibia Community Forestry in North-Eastern Namibia (CFNEN) said the concepts of conservancies and community forests have evolved as core components of Namibia's Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) programme. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708020363.html
Zimbabwe: 'Mitigate Environmental Degradation'
The Herald (Harare): Councils in Mashonaland Central are letting down the Environmental Management Agency by failing to complement its efforts to mitigate environmental degradation, a senior official has said. EMA provincial officer Mr Benson Bhasera was speaking at a three-day workshop to educate councils on how to counter the effects of environmental degradation. Mr Bhasera said stakeholders in various sectors should play a pivotal role in mitigating the effects of environmental degradation and veld fires and not leave the responsibility to EMA alone. "EMA is there to remind people of the effects of tampering with the environment and act as a true custodian of nature.”Some of the problems which EMA is facing in its efforts to counter environmental degradation, are economic and social," he said.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708020520.html
Mozambique: Uncontrolled Bush Fires Devastate Namaacha
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo): Uncontrolled bush fires are devastating thousands of hectares in the southern Mozambican district of Namaacha, on the border with Swaziland. The Namaacha district administrator, Artur Chindandala, told AIM that the fires have destroyed about 5,000 hectares so far this year and 10,000 hectares last year. He warned that the situation is set to worsen if strong measures are not taken to check the phenomenon. "Uncontrolled bush fires are a serious concern, not just for the government, but for the entire community", he said. Fire is used recklessly in much of rural Mozambique to clear land for planting, for producing charcoal, and for poaching - in the latter case; the fires are set to drive the terrified animals into the open where then can more easily be caught. Chandandala said that four people were arrested on Tuesday, accused of setting fires for purposes of poaching He said that whenever it is necessary to burn a certain area, for agricultural purposes, people should first isolate the area to be burnt, to prevent the spread of the fire. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708020808.html
South Africa: Pahad Blames 'Global Warming'
Business Day (Johannesburg): The acute food crisis affecting Lesotho, part of Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe was a reminder of the threat posed by global warming, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday. Swaziland was suffering its worst recorded harvest, which was endangering about 400000 people in a situation made worse by high HIV infection rates and the vulnerability of young orphans. Lesotho was in a similar predicament, with the worst drought the country has experienced in more than 30 years threatening 500000 rural people with famine. Pahad quoted from a United Nations (UN) flash appeal document, which said that in Lesotho the production of maize, the country's staple food, has dropped by more than half compared to last year. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708030252.html
South Africa: The Development and Delivery of Environmental Course
BuaNews (Tshwane): Several projects are presently in progress, including the development and delivery of environmental course modules, the collation of a library of environmental information resources and providing students with experiential training and academic opportunities in the environmental field. The ERC will also offer environmental research and consulting services. The Deputy Minister urged the newly launched ERC to establish closer working cooperation with key stakeholders such as Cape Nature and Marine Conservation Management to enrich the ERC with practical up to date information. "Nationally, cooperation with departmental institutions such as Indalo Yethu, Buyisa e Bag and SA Weather Service could further enrich the institution's research output," she said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708030364.html
South Africa: Enviro Education Centre Opens in Polokwane
BuaNews (Tshwane): A R2.5 million conservation education centre was opened in Polokwane by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Thursday. The old SABC transmitting building at the Polokwane Game Reserve has been converted and equipped into an environmental centre as a result of a partnership between the Rotary Club and the Polokwane Municipality. Speaking at the official opening, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said: "For a long time in South Africa, conservation has kept people separated from our environment.”We saw fences and armed patrols as the key to protecting our natural heritage. We know now that people and communities are critical partners in the success of conservation especially in our parks." The programme aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of South Africa's national heritage, both natural and cultural, while also enhancing access for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds to the parks. "What better way to ensure sustainability of our environment and our parks than by introducing and demonstrating their environmental value directly to South Africa's young citizens", asked Minister van Schalkwyk. Annually more than 12 000 children from mainly disadvantaged schools in the Limpopo Province visit the Polokwane Game Reserve. Until now there were no facilities for them to be given formal training on conservation and environmental issues. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708030366.html
South Africa: Empowering People Can Help Environment
BuaNews (Tshwane): The pace of finding lasting solutions to environmental problems could be increased by making information and knowledge readily accessible to a multitude of people. Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi said only when knowledge was much more freely available and generally embraced, could "our collective efforts drive us closer to achieving lasting solutions". Speaking at the official launch of the Environmental Resources Centre (ERC) at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), the Deputy Minister said: "It is open secret that our planet Earth faces unprecedented environmental challenges from unsustainable use of resources by mankind. "The threats that global climate change brings is on the news every day. Never before in our lifetimes, or over the last number of millennia, have we experienced the precarious situation that we are in now."
The minister explained that there are many ecological disasters looming such as land degradation, which is widespread in Africa and has lowered the carrying capacity of the land. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708030363.html
Kenya: Pollution Issue Still Haunts Flower Exporters
Business Daily (Nairobi): Kenya is riding out the media storm over its heavy use of highly polluting air freight with no impact to fresh produce sales so far. But as concerns about climate change keep rising, the industry is under pressure to do more to guarantee its future as a leading exporter. Awareness of climate change is at an all-time high in the UK, Kenya's major export market, and the devastation caused by unexpected floods this summer is only set to hammer home the need to take action. Choosing to buy foods or flowers based on their "food miles" is one action consumers could opt for. It has taken just two years for millions of Britons to become familiar with the term, which refers to the distance travelled from grower to consumer. The further a food is transported, the more pollution it causes. And even though scientists and governments now prefer to talk about "carbon footprints" or emissions generated throughout the production chain including the energy consumed during growing and the energy required for storage, the concept of food miles is still "grabbing the hearts and minds" of Britons, says Nigel Jenney, chief executive of UK industry association the Fresh Produce Consortium. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708050063.html
South Africa: Sasol Plant Named As Top Culprit in Emissions
Cape Argus (Cape Town): Sasol's Secunda plant - the largest synthetic fuels facility in the world - is often also cited as the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, Parliament's environment portfolio committee has been told. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the major cause of human-induced climate change. During a briefing yesterday by senior officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the SA Weather Bureau, committee members also heard that South Africa is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Africa, and ranks 25th in the world and 11th in the developing world.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708080651.html
Nigeria: 23 Perish in Adamawa Flood
This Day (Lagos): At least 23 persons have been confirmed dead in Song Local government area of Adamawa State, as flash flood left at least three local government areas in devastation, following two days of torrential rainfall. The flood, which affected Yola North and South and Song local governments, left hundreds of buildings and hectares of farmland submerged, while the Song-Gadamayo Bridge was washed away. Over 500 households were submerged in Yolde-Pate, Shagari low-cost housing estate, angwan sabo and surrounding villages of Yola South Local government area, while property worth millions of naira were destroyed, with over 2000 persons displaced and are seeking refuge in primary schools. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708080385.html
Uganda: Rains Devastate Bududa
New Vision (Kampala): Torrential rains in Bududa district have washed away 11 bridges, damaged houses and forced more than 3,000 pupils out of school. The rains that battered the area on Monday night destroyed Nakwesha Bridge on River Sume, cutting off five parishes in Bubiita sub-county. The floods also carried away 10 temporary bridges on the river. A health centre that offers antenatal services was also cut off on the upper side of the river. Many pupils could not reach their schools on Tuesday for the end of the second term examinations that started on Monday. A total of 15 schools did not run normal classes as the pupils got stranded on the way. The schools included Bukibumbi, Bukhalatsi, Bunabumali, Busooto, Buwali, Lubili, Bukharera, Shitondoshi and Bundesi.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708090012.html
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