2021 national clean-up campaign launched
Deputy minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Heather Sibungo on Thursday launched the 2021 National Clean-up Campaign at Five Rand informal settlement in Okahandja.
The campaign, which will run until end of the year, will run under the theme; ‘A clean Namibia is a healthy Namibia’.
During the launch, Sibungo called upon all Namibians to join hands to organise and participate in the 2021 national clean-up activities in their respective communities to keep the country clean.
She said Namibian youth and investors should also come up with innovative and creative ways of investing in waste management solutions, technologies and systems that process waste to useful forms or products and industries to invest in zero waste technologies.
This is to ensure clean production processes that reduce pollution in the country.
“Waste does not only damage the image of our country; it also contributes significantly to greenhouse effect through the emission of methane, which is one of the causative factors
to climate change and global warming. A dirty environment does not only damage the image of our physical environment but also our image as citizens and residents of this beautiful country.
Irresponsible waste disposal causes environmental degradation and biological diversity loss,” said Sibungo.
She added that commercial banks and development finance institutions also have a crucial role to play in keeping Namibia clean by providing access to finance and investments in the form of grants, low-interest loans to regional and local authorities to support effective and environmentally sound investment in waste collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure, including incentives for waste collections, management and plastic waste reduction. At the same occasion, Otjozondjupa governor James Uerikua, in a speech read on his behalf, said the country’s cities, towns, settlements, villages and roadsides have become places of litter, posing a serious health threat to the livelihoods of people and wildlife.
“We aim at redoubling our focus on areas that matter most to Namibians. This includes clean cities for better hygiene and health of our citizens to avoid breakouts of bacterial diseases and to boost the pride of Namibians for the environment in which they live and work,” said Uerikua.