2015-04-08Staff Report 2 WINDHOEK - The Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism, Tommy Nambahu, is unhappy and concerned that some areas around the country are untidy and littered with rubbish. He also fears that widespread littering could see Windhoek downgraded from one of the cleanest cities in Africa. He furthermore feels cleanliness should not only be maintained in Windhoek but replicated countrywide. “When I drive through other towns and areas I see plastic bags flying all over and I ask myself why is this so – we should lead by example,” stressed Nambahu. He made the remarks during the first ministerial staff meeting for 2015 last Thursday, when he stressed that there is an urgent need to engage in business partnerships that have the know-how to assist in alleviating environmental pollution. He said that an expression such as ‘when in doubt, start with what’s natural’ can be used as a principle to guide the nation to work on the sustainable development of the environment. He further touched on the perception that tourism is only for whites, which he said it is a wrong impression and gave the assurance that by the end of his tenure such a misbelief would have been overturned. “If our local people are not travelling to see the beauty of our country, they will not be able to understand, appreciate, cherish and admire how special our country is because they are not exposed to this. So this is my priority – to change some of these things so that people can appreciate what they have and I will work towards seeing more black tourists,” stated Nambahu. In the same vein the new environment minister Pohamba Shifeta stressed that the Environmental Management Act of 2007 provides a sound basis for wise management of the environment through environmental impact assessments and strategic environmental assessments. This Act contains provisions to promote the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste. “It is of critical importance that we effectively implement and enforce this Act as we continue with our industrialization in line with Vision 2030,” elaborated Shifeta. Shifeta would like to see the ministry improve its working relations with local authorities and municipalities to tackle littering, which is becoming a major problem. 2015-04-08Staff Report 2
