Environment
AN environmentalist, Mr Gafar Odubote, has urged governments at all levels to be more decisive on enforcement of environmental laws and policies to tackle the growing plastic pollution in the country.
Odubote, who is the ‘Let’s Do it’ Coordinator for Africa, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria NAN on Monday in Lagos.
According to him, there are lots of environmental laws and policies on plastic wastes which are not being enforced and implemented.
“We need someone to hold people responsible for indiscriminate littering of our environment with plastic wastes, just as we have task force for people crossing major roads where there are pedestrian bridges.
“Sometimes, government is not deliberate about enforcing plastic wastes laws by imposing sanctions on defaulters. Whereas, enforcement will bring about behavioural change on plastic pollution,” the expert said.
According to him, government at all levels should ensure that proactive and deliberate measures are taken to tackle the menace of plastic pollution across the country.
Odubote called for the sanctioning of plastic pollution defaulters to deter Nigerians from ‘waste blindness’ (a situation where people are oblivious of waste in their environment).
He also advocated for adequate sensitisation of Nigerians, via different media platforms, to curb the rate of plastic pollution.
“People should be sanctioned for littering the streets with plastic wastes; there should be a task force to enforce and curb pollution.
“If there is a task force on plastic pollution, Nigerians will comply, because no one likes to be sanctioned for breaking the law.
“We should fine people for indiscriminate littering of plastic wastes; the effects of climate change realities are dawning on us every day, we need to be proactive.
“The government also needs to be involved in plastic wastes sensitisation. We should have jingles and adverts on all media platforms to sensitise the populace on the damage of plastic wastes to the ecosystem
“We need to enforce the law so that Nigerians are aware of the dangers of plastic wastes,” Odubote said.
He, however, said that banning plastic was not feasible, following the COVID-19 effects on the economy.
“It is not economically-friendly, as much as it is environmentally beneficial. But we need to imbibe a sustainable approach to plastic wastes,’’ he said.
The expert added that government should not wait until plastic pollution became a pandemic before necessary actions were taken. (NAN)
-March 01 2021 @ 15:32 PM
Tags: law Plastic pollution: Expert urges govt. to enforce environmental policy
