It is the most
important part of the life to live in a healthy and clean
environment. That is what all the human being are running for and it
is what the governments and local municipalities are created for. It
usually starts from the individuals and expands to the public. To
live in a clean environment one should start from his own house,
then should ask for his neighbors for support to work on the area
they live then this can reach the whole community in general.
In most parts of
Africa, people are waiting for the governments to come and clean for
them. Yes it is the duty of the administration to take the
initiative, that is why people are paying taxes for, that is why
people are electing those city councils. Nevertheless, people should
do their own initiative to lead the government itself when needed.
In Hargeisa, the
environment is in a real danger. Almost everywhere you go there is a
garbage, abandoned plastic bags and remaining of used cans. People
now started to call those plastic bags as Hargeisa Flowers. Yes they
look like flowers when you consider the difference in colors and how
they are attached to the big trees in and around the city. It has
been really long time since the government warned against the use of
those plastic bags and how it is likely for the animal to eat them
so that it is stuck in their stomach and die.
Many times the
government suspended the importation of those bags but the
suspension was not successful because the public did not see the
real danger of those plastic bags. The most shocking moment was when
a group of businessmen established a plastic bag factory in
Hargeisa. Somehow, they were licensed to do so. The media talked
about the issue and raised the danger of such factories to the
environment which led at the end the closure of the factory by the
businessmen themselves.
The garbage is
another story that people are throwing their stuff on the roadsides
and the local municipality is unable to clean the city. So much
complaints have been raised and the local media have been talking
about the issue since long time. Just go around the city and look
the roadsides even in the most respected places in the town.
Last month, the
Vice President of Somaliland started a big campaign to clean the
city. He came out to the public and collecting the garbage with his
hands that led thousands of people to collect the garbage and a
large part of the city was cleaned that day. Only if those
activities continue then city would be proudly clean and the
population would live in a healthy environment.
The pollution is
not a big problem in Somaliland since there are no that much
industries in the country. The only big problem is the smoke
produced by the old vehicles in the country. This cannot be tackled
as the people are poor and the country is not enjoying an
international recognition to get the needed support from the
international community.
The water is clean
in Hargeisa and other major cities in the country but it is not up
to the maximum. Some areas still use the old system to get the water
from trucks and those with the donkeys. There is no full control of
the wells and the ministry of water and mineral resources is
struggling to expand the capacity of the water system to cover the
whole city.
To add to the
point, some people who lived in the abroad started small factories
to supply a clean mineral water to the people. This limited the
importation of those water from other countries and people are now
using the local manufactured mineral water.
In conclusion,
people should not wait for the governments to do the job for them.
They should take the initiative and work on the environment so that
they will live in an environment that is healthy and clean. It is
them that are living in the country, if the environment went wrong
it is the people that are dying. Let’s start this process from the
bottom, from the individual level to a national level. Let’s help
the government to be more successful in this area. There is no
government that can work without the people.
