Health

Evans Kipngeno's picture

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & ENFORCEMENT

Hello. My names are Mr. Evans Kipngeno, from Kenya, Africa. I am a research Communications
Officer. There is a topic that i feel should be included here for discussion groups.

Environmental health is generally the well-being of our environment, and it is about activity of people that impact negatively or positively to this environment.
In my society there have been challenges in enforcing environmental laws against those who violate and pollute the environment. Our Authority agency is National Environmental Management Authority, Kenya. This is the unit that is supposed to deal with these matters. But what happens on the ground?
Nothing. I have a case of Ongata Rongai in Kajiado where pollutants, and municipal and human wastes can be seen scattered all over the town yet we have the agency that should deal with this problem.
Look at the Nairobi case, the streets down town Nairobi you cannot even make a phone call, because of music and advertisement noises emanating from business shops broadcasting and advertising their wares. Pollutants are wastes that discharge to environment and these included as i have stated above, human waste, domestics and household wastes like food remains, paper bags disposals, smoke from what whatever source it may come it be cigarette, any burning material. It also includes noise.

I dont know if there are other countries with similar problems here, but if there are it would be good to discuss them, and come up with action plans to deal with these matters. Last week i wrote to NEMA requesting that they convene a public forum to address these matters. I advised them to included the stockholders to come and discuss why these matters are not being addressed by NEMA. If NEMA is reading this, let them also say what they think is the problem here, and let them suggest why they have never convened a public forum to discuss way forward to deal with this matter. I am suggesting that stakeholders be involved because they are primary agents in contact with environment and these are the people who run transport sectors.

In my assessed opinion, the Ongata Rongai Case is about a rural set-up that developed rapidly into sub-urban and later to urban set-up, and in the course of this changes no enactments governing urban panning was done for this town in allocating wastes and sewage and affluence discharge site. In brief a town was let to develop without waste riddance efficiency plan, and as a result now we have this problem. There are other towns similar to this model that will present same problem in five years time, and i can give you example, SALGAA town in NAKURU county is one such town.
Every ten years we have in Kenya what we call national census program that is conducted by Kenya Bureau of Statistics. The objective of the census is to find out the population at certain time.
These figures are supposed to be used by government planning agencies to plan for infrastructure, food security, education, health and water security for her people. The same may also be used to plan and design environmental systems, that may be able to deal with any increase of these populations in a given area. NEMA should use these information to play advisory tole to government agencies and advise on environmental concerns that may impact on same grid as per population reports.

I would be glad to receive NEMA report through this forum if they have done any thing on environmental enforcement in these areas. Colleagues, do we have similar problems out there?

Comments

RCEgreaterdhaka's picture

Dear Evans, Thank you very much for posting the nice issue. You are not only the victim but we also. In the so-called corporate society who cares for health of the environment i.e. air, soil or water? The urbanization and the industrialization have gifted us pollution and who are the entrepreneurs and why the governments remain silent? So we need to kick at the lower abdomen otherwise we cannot sensitise the authority. Now look at the picture how I teach the student. Mohammed
Evans Kipngeno's picture

Thanks Prof Marahman,

I have seen the chart and its true its synonymous to the environment. Yes we should protect it at all costs. Thanks again for this chart i hope rest of our colleagues in this group get to see this too.
RCEgreaterdhaka's picture

Yes we can introduce mandatory environment health education, As I have already introduced in IUBAT and 12000 students are learning and practising. There are many laws but the developing countries especially in the LDCs it is very difficult to enforce as the policy makers are often involved in environmental degradation. So let we start from small scale and expand gradually. Our strict adherence to implement will make it successful. Moreover, there are people in the society who will also help us and we will be successful.
Kholiwe Cindzi's picture

mr evans, I am very touched by your issue, environmental issue have not been seriously considerd not only i your state. we are progreessing and all this innovations come with a high cost on our environment and we have to make sure that as we envy the new devices and technology we are killing our own wenvironment in the process.

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