FRANCISTOWN: Just on the foot of the Nyangabgwe Hill, a congregation of the Johane Masowe wa Labotlhano is holding a session. They have cleared a bushy area for their worship and there is no waste bin in sight. A further few metres on entering the Monarch location, a scanty built structure houses a young man called Omphile whose trade is to patch car tyres. Moving along the main road, Gadzani Supang runs a beehive-busy steel works business and garage. In the shopping complex, a heavily drunk man urinates on the walls of one of the bars that seem to have mushroomed all over.
All these people have one thing in common: they are engaged in illegal activities making them prime targets for an unwilting Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism’s all-out offensive to promote a ‘greener’ behaviour.
The old time battle between man and his surroundings will come into play on February 1 when a posse of law enforcement officers begins to close on civic and public operations regarded as environmentally unfriendly.
“I am not aware of the February 1 operation,” exclaims Supang, the self-employed man who runs his steel works business from home.
However, Supang says he is waiting for the law enforcement officers because he has long asked for a business plot.
The Johane Masowe wa Labotlhano elders say they are also unaware of such an operation. “We have been guided by the Holy Spirit to this place and we have not erected any permanent structures. If government wants us to move we will do so,” says one of the elders.
A young man, identifying himself as Omphile, clearly has no idea of the illegality of the tyre-patching operation he is part of, just near the road. “It belongs to my father. He will be better placed to answer your questions,” he told FPN.
With the unemployment rate amongst young people high and the populations in general facing gnashing harsh economic realities, February 1 is likely to degenerate into a battle between survival and religion on the one hand, and the rule of law on the other.
“I can’t fold my arms and wait for the business plot approval. I have to go on living,” Supang says.
However, the ministry is unfazed. Those who speak on its behalf promise maximum penalties as the law provides.
“The ministry expects that from February 1, law enforcement officers will make sure that people comply with the relevant environmental laws,” says Steve Monna, Director of Environmental Affairs.
In his Gaborone office, Monna explains how the latest campaign took shape. When the rest of government took the customary break in December, Monna was among those who stayed behind. He was made Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary for Environment, Wildlife and Tourism.
The road that takes him to and from work passes through Old Naledi. Heading home one evening, he noticed a man in flowing religious gowns followed by about five similarly attired women carrying buckets. The group headed towards the direction of Gaborone Dam. Clearly, they were going to undertake a cleansing ritual. It was yet another one of the many such activities that pollute the scarce water resource at its source.
Taking advantage of the status of his acting position, Monna called a meeting of stakeholder departments. They were all in agreement that Botswana faces a serious problem of environmental degradation ÔÇô and it comes in different ways: illegal dumping of construction rubble, indiscriminate disposal of household waste, and urinating in undesignated areas. Monna has a description to sum up all these untoward activities. It is “reckless conduct”, he says.
At the end of the stakeholder meeting, he had extracted consensus that the take for action had come.
Over the past week, a seriously toned press release from the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism has been appearing in a number of newspapers in the form of an advert. The statement warns that anyone caught engaged in relieving in public without due regard for public decency, the use of public land or open spaces for civic and social activities including religious gatherings without adequate facilities for the waste they generate and without permission to use the open spaces, indiscriminate disposal of waste and use of open spaces and public land to carry out petty trade and other forms of business such as metal fabrication without regard to land regulation will bear the brunt of the law.
“There is no reason for illegal dumping because there are designated refuse points. If you gather in an open space, make sure there are facilities to dispose of solid and liquid waste,” says Monna, who has reverted to his substantive job as custodian of Botswana’s environment.
It is from his office that he coordinates the current campaign that is a joint effort that brings together his department, the councils, department of environmental health, the police, and department of waste management.
Monna says 2007 must be a new beginning where self-responsibility will become a norm for everyone.
The Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism has engaged on a campaign titled “Thinking 2016”. The campaign includes, among others, a series of advertisements in the press aimed at educating people on the importance of preserving the environment.
“The adverts we are running in the media are aimed at changing mindsets and attitudes. We are communicating the fact that as we pollute the environment, we are exacerbating problems like water shortage. Our natural environment is a strong base for the pharmaceutical industry, and we can create employment if we don’t destroy the environment. Through these adverts we are saying as we exercise our rights, let’s do so within a reasonable context,” Monna explains. “We are saying if you earn a living by selling food, make sure you have a refuse bag to collect your customers’ waste. Don’t just pocket the profits and disregard the waste. If there is a waste bin next to you, what effort does it take to make sure your piece of paper goes inside? Behavioral change is very important. Nobody should say, ‘it’s not my job [to ensure a clean environment]’,” Monna points out.
He makes an observation that there is poor sanitation in this country.
“In recent years, we have seen a mushrooming of civil gatherings in open spaces. Some meet throughout the weekend. But you never see a single portable toilet. But we all know that the human body has to excrete waste ÔÇô both solid and liquid. You wonder how they dispose of their human waste. It’s probably done without regard for the law that governs such disposal of waste,” he observes. “If it rained, there would be a dilution effect. But we know that it no longer rains as it used to. So without the rains, toxicity levels of the waste go up. The water resource is less, and all the waste is pumped into the environment where it eventually goes into the water. Urine is toxic. Why not discharge it in the right manner?”
He makes the point that just because the laws have not been enforced before does not mean they are non-existant.
“There is a penalty and there is no compromise on that. But here we think we have the right to do anything. Because we didn’t enforce the laws people thought such laws existed for others,” he says.
The general feeling among the green lobby is that such action is long over due. “It hasn’t taken too long to act. There have always been efforts. What stopped us from doing what was required is that a lot of time we look for reasons why things shouldn’t happen,” he says. “Part of the problem in this country is that everybody thinks they have the right to do as they please without thinking that their freedoms end at the end of their fingertips. Beyond that they are encroaching into other people’s rights.”
Monna paints a picture to show that the complexities of environmental unfriendly attitudes are intertwined. “Pollution is on the increase ÔÇô in the form of toxic solid waste, liquid waste, and gaseous material. These things are interlinked. They are linked to health and a warming climate. As temperatures get warmer, this impacts on agriculture leading to reduced food security in the household, energy and health. Warm temperature is conducive for germs. Malaria zones have been expanding away from the tropics. There is a direct correlation between pollution, warming climate and rising incidences of diseases,” he explains.
Monna argues that some of the attitudes towards the environment are evidence of the diminishing societal morals and values. “There has been sudden affluence in our country; we have money and we seem not to have been prepared. We have copied some lifestyles and lost our values and identity. We emulate what we see on TV, and as we do these things we don’t know what other measures need to be brought on board. We don’t recognise that in countries from which we copy these lifestyles, law enforcement is not compromised,” he says. “In those countries, when you walk your dog you have to carry a refuse bag so that as it relieves itself, you put the excretion in a bag. In others, you can’t spit onto a pavement. We can apply the same principles here.”
Environment, according to Monna, cuts across the socio-economic and development spectra and it’s not only a health issue. “For development to happen, four components are required: economic infrastructure, human infrastructure, monetary capital, and natural capital in the form of water, soil, forests, minerals. For development to be sustainable, we need to balance these four pillars. Our infrastructure and money are both there. But what about botho? Do we have respect for other people? Do we care for the environment? If these two can’t be balanced with the other components, then there is a developmental problem. To achieve sustainable development, we are going to have to balance these pillars,” he says.
Monna further warns that the development that has been achieved so far could regress. “Lack of environmental stewardship would negate whatever strides we would have made over the years. That’s why others would recycle and reuse materials. Our development planning needs to change to ensure that it addresses these issues. Otherwise we are going to take backward steps. The next National Development Plans and District Development Plans would be poorly premised if they don’t address these matters,” he argues.
However, Otlaagomotsa Seleka, a Francistown resident, says small businesses will become soft targets. He suggests that instead of closing them down, they should be helped to operate more cleanly.
“The businesses that are going to be primarily targeted are the ones where more young people are. If such businesses are raided and closed where do you expect them to go?” he asks.
Seleka argues that this does not address the cause of the problem.
Monna vows that capitulation from the planned action at this point could only spell disaster for Botswana’s future development.
“We need to know that there is a limit to recklessness. I am a human being among human beings, and we all live in an ecosystem that has limits. If the ecosystem is pushed beyond limit, it won’t support life. If we don’t address these issues now, we might have to divert resources into rising medical bills because we would end up contaminating ourselves,” Monna warns. (FPN)
