Africa


Youths urged against environmentally hazardous practices As Gambia celebrates World Earth Day


505 27


Gambian youths have been urged to desist from all practices that might prove endanger the environment as The Gambia joins the rest of the world to mark the World Earth Day. Scores of Gambian youths had gathered at the Brufut Beach Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Global Earth Day.
Speaking at the ceremony, The Gambia’s minister for Forestry and the Environment, Hon. Jato Sillah said youths must desist from practices that aggravate the effects of climate change, urging them to instead work in sensitizing other members of the community towards reducing the effects of climate change which according to him is likely to affect Africa more. He said youths are the enthusiastic users of most of the materials that affect the climate but most of them rarely take cognizance of how they contribute to the effects of climate change.
The minister further took example of how youths have constantly contributed to the destruction of the beach through their constant use of the beach for picnics saying, “If we look at the beach where we are today enjoying the breeze, most of the people who make use of our beaches are youths. You use the beach for your picnics and for your Sunday beaches and most of the things you use to bring your food or foodstuffs are left on the beach after your picnics and these things that you leave on our beaches are not friendly to the environment especially the beach or the ocean which could have adverse effects on our tourist sector which most Gambian youths depend on.”
Hon. Sillah urged the youths to consider the role they play in contributing to the effects of climate change and tasked them to revisit their practices by engaging in other practices that will not contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer or the destruction of the country’s oceans and beaches. He however thanked the youths for coming together in celebrating this years’ Earth Day on the beach and for complementing the efforts of the government. “This activity should have been organized by the government but you are complementing our efforts. I can’t do anything rather than thank you and I promise that we at the governmental level will do everything to support you in causes like this because climate change is everyone’s business,” he concluded.
For her part, the minister of Tourism and Culture, Hon. Fatou Mass Jobe Njie thanked the youths for the initiative but also challenged them to desist from the idea of going to the beach on Sundays but rather venture in reading their books or assisting their parents in their house chores.
According to the Tourism minister, it is important for all responsible people to always ask beach users to clean up after their so-called Sunday picnics as she called upon parents to discourage their children from spending their Sundays picnicking at the beach. Rather, she told them to encourage them to focus on their education or help in house chores.
“I am grateful that you took the challenge to collaborate with the Gambian government in trying to mitigate the effects of climate change but it will also be grateful if you can concentrate more in helping your parent at home rather than coming to the beach every Sunday on your so-called Sunday beaches where you contribute to the effects of climate change or pollute the environment which attracts tourist. If we destroy our beach which is one of the resources we have, how could we attract a lot of tourist?” she asked.
She also pledged that her ministry will do everything it takes to ensure that the beach is clean and is conducive for everyone. She said her ministry in collaboration with the Gambia Tourism Authority will ensure they regulate hoteliers as they have recently noticed that hoteliers dig holes around the beach where they dump their rubbish which her office will not tolerate again, noting that this practice also contributes to the pollution of the environment, and consequently affects the tourism industry.
Momodou Suwareh who spoke on behalf of the National Environment Agency said the move taken by the youths is in concert with the work of his agency on the beaches. He said cleaning the coast which was one of the activities that took place on the beach is a step in the right direction as it will only help in the sustenance of the environment. He noted that the future is bright as far as Gambian youths commit themselves to cleaning the coast from time to time.
“This move is commendable because cleaning the coastline will minimize the introduction of foreign bodies into our oceans as the introduction of these foreign bodies leads to degradation. We, at the environment agency, have seen that as pollution looking at our definition because these foreign bodies making their way into our waters change the quality of the water.”
He said his office will strive to make sure that these foreign objects are not sent into the waters, most especially nylon bags, bottles, metals, cans etc. Mr. Suwareh warned that abundant introduction of foreign bodies into the ocean results to several negative impacts. Key among them he said is the low fish catch. Also speaking, Ibrahim Dem of the Global Unification also rallied the youths to take up measures that will preserve the environment, rather than destroy it.

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