By Mohamed Juma Jalloh
Rotary Club of Freetown has organized a symposium at the British Council Hall to raise awareness amongst young Sierra Leoneans about the fragility of the environment and the importance of its protection.
The event was attended by pupils from different secondary schools. The theme selected for the programme is ‘My environment, my life’.
Madam Haja Kaday Sesay, the Director of Climate Change and Forest Preservation Consortium, encouraged individuals to engage in afforestation so that the environment can be protected.
She noted that deforestation is on the increase as, according to her, 70 % of the forest cover in Sierra Leone has been eliminated due to economic activities and rapid urbanization.
Madam Sesay continued that if the environment is constantly degraded it will react back in the form of flash floods, mudslides and the shortage of food and water.
The environment campaigner discouraged people from constructing houses in hilltops and waterways.She also urged everyone to engage in proper waste management.
Madam Sesay called on international partners to assist government in providing alternative livelihood support for people that depend on bioenergy like charcoal and wood.
Mohamed Kanneh, the Programme Coordinator of the West African Youth Network, said the increase in cholera and malaria is not unconnected with the negative attitude of people to the environment.
The youth advocate noted that people do inimical things to the environment and everybody accepts it as normal, like the breaking and burning of stones, the cutting of trees and the eating of rodents and other animals that infect us with diseases.
Mr. Kanneh concluded that drainages are not dumping sites, as most of these things end up in the beaches, which make them unsightly for visitors.
Tamba Samba, the senior legal officer at the Environment Protection Agency, said the Agency was established by an Act of Parliament in 2008.Ithas the mandate to deal with issues that touch the environment.
Mr. Samba stated that, according to the inter-generational principles of international law,the environment should be protected for future generations.
“Future generations will never forgive us if the environment is destroyed. That is why it is the right of the children to hold the present generation to task,”Lawyer Samba said.
He concluded by urging the children to establish nature clubs in their respective schools. He also urged the government to provide a balance between foreign investment and the need to protect the environment.
It should be noted that the Rotary Club of Freetown Sunset-District 9101 is an organization of professional people whose members meet for social reasons and raise resources for charitable activities.