Environmentalists in Mbeere South of Embu County have petitioned the environmental experts from government and non-governmental organization to launch campaigns to promote environmental protection and cleanliness through schools.
Mainstreaming at community and through primary and secondary schools remained zero, the environmentalists said while petitioning officers from the National Environment Management Authority to venture out of their offices and work with communities.
NEMA officers despite working for a key organ which could support climate mitigation campaigns, the environmentalists led by the chairman of the Umoja Kiamuringa Self Help Group Nicholas Njeru said only appeared at the community level to tackle litigation issues.
Njeru whose environmental lobby whose main agenda is to tree planting through launch of seedling nurseries’ said NEMA should start campaigns to entrench environmental cleanliness and protection issues at community level through school pupils and students.
The authority despite having the potential to reach learners through school environmental clubs rarely ventures into such schools even through brochures or environmental reports.
“Where is NEMA’s voice at community level, how can such professionals remain that moribund on issues to do with environment which are always trendy,” he said.
The continued silence of NEMA, he added, even when opportunities to enter various regions through schools where both learners and parents could be accessed was an issue of great concern to Mbeere South people and Kenyan in general.
Njeru who was speaking after a community climate change mitigation meeting at Kiamuringa area said environmental lobbies in Mbeere South were ready to work with all stakeholders including NEMA.
Communities across the regions have started drawing plans for expansion of tree nurseries’ at groups and individual level as the community based environmental lobby groups prepare to play it role in tree planting already being mobilized under the national government
He further claimed that NEMA officers only appeared to have generally ignored their role at the rural parts of Mbeere South where environmental and sometimes dangerous Murram and sand harvesting activities led to high increase of abandoned deep open quarries.
“Dangerous and open building stone, Murram and sand quarries are eating into roads and water reservoirs’ including seasonal streams right in the eyes of NEMA” said Mr. Njeru wondering why the authority had failed to venture rural parts of Embu County and work with the community lobby groups to safeguard the environment.
The authority officers, he said, only appeared to pursue issues to do with construction development projects where there were opportunities for those of their own to earn income through environmental audit and impact assessment reports.
Learners, right from the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) and up to secondary schools, the environmentalist insisted, would learn good and life changing environmental protection skills from experts from NEMA.
The environmentalist expressed sadness that despite the huge repository of environmental knowledge available among their highly learned scientists in the authority, their voice came into the scene when they were legally pursuing certain Kenyans over damage or threat to environment.
By Robert Nyagah
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