By Charles K Mark
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries has launched an aquatic plastic pollution cleaning campaign in the River Nile on Tuesday.
The three-year campaign aims to protect water bodies from plastic pollution and to support the prosperity of the aquatic ecosystem.
Simon Oswan, IGAD’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, mentioned that 5,000,000 US Dollars has been allocated to make the campaign a reality.
The IGAD Monitoring and Evaluation Officer has emphasized the need to organize and strategize the management of waste in Juba.
Mr. Oswan, highlighted the importance of engaging with the Juba City Council on plans to reuse the collected waste, particularly plastic waste.
“We know we can’t do away with plastics, especially during our market packaging, but again having utilized these plastics, how do we manage them? How can we turn them into a resource? This is why we have another discussion with the Juba City Council on how we can reuse these wastes,” Oswan explained.
Speaking also during the launch of the campaign, Juba City Mayor Mrs. Flora Gabriel Modi acknowledged the numerous challenges the city authorities have faced in implementing such waste management projects.
However, the mayor assured that with financial aid from IGAD and other donors, the city council will this time follow up on its stringent laws to keep the city clean and green.
“We are going to take it very seriously because if you go around, you see that Juba has a lot of waste. We are going to be on the people’s necks. We are going to make orders. And we are also going to fine people that are dumping these wastes,” the mayor warned.
The mayor pledged to use the city authorities, including the local quarters, to enhance public awareness on the matter and enforce the city’s waste management regulations.