Parkop announces plans to fight ocean pollution in city

NATIONAL Capital District (NCD) Governor Powes Parkop yesterday announced initiatives to fight ocean pollution in the city.
He made the announcements yesterday following a Walk and Yoga for Life programme in honour of World Ocean Day. He unveiled the NCD Commission’s initiative to buy back plastic for recycling, saying mechanism and governance for the initiative is still at infant stage so further announcements will be made later. Parkop also announced sea-front cleaning by schools and active city volunteers. He said for a start, K20,000 has been allocated to pilot it, adding schools would become key stakeholders engaged for plastic buy-back programme. Parkop said it would be extended to the public when a system being worked on was in place. After the end of celebrations at the redeveloped Sir Hubert Murray Stadium yesterday, Parkop led students and other city residents to pick up plastic and clean beach fronts. The celebrations in dances, awareness and action were all part of a week-long programme and activities in the city to honour both World Environment Day and World Ocean Day. Last week, the first National Forum on Protected Areas and, Environment and Climate Emergency Summit were hosted in the city in the lead-up to the World Environment Day, which was celebrated on Saturday. Participating schools, Kilakila Secondary, Kilakila Primary, Koki Primary, Badili Vocational, Sevese Morea Primary, Koki Vocational and St Francis Primary were cleaning sea fronts of Kanudi, Ela Beach, Tatana, Konebada and Idubada. Parkop urged city residents to recycle plastic in light of plastic bottles finding their way into the ocean through drainages and waterways during wet weather. He said plastic affected the marine life in different ways, adding that nearly 80 per cent of plastic pollution entered the ocean from land.