adminPerspective Stephen A Mpofu
The Government is making a fresh good start in arresting wild fires that threaten to burn the Zimbabwean side of mother Earth to cinders.
You (yes you) cannot sow seed in ashes and expect to harvest anything for human consumption. Yes, only God could make Sarah’s otherwise dead womb bear life, but to expect God to make soil rendered dead by irresponsible people bear food to support humanity is drama that is at best foolhard and at worst something that verges on insanity.
Which is why everything must be done across the nation to tame, nay check veld fires that have constantly run riot, incinerating vegetation and in some cases killing people and livestock, not to mention rendering soil infertile and incapable of supporting any form of life.
Uncontrolled fires continue to wreak havoc on the environment which is the basis of the existence not only of human beings but of all other creatures that God has placed on this planet and yet many beneficiaries of the environment appear oblivious of a symbiotic relationship that exist between human beings and the environment; otherwise people would demonstrate a greater responsibility than is the case today in protecting our environment which may be likened to a roof over our heads.
The apparent, I-don’t-care attitude exhibited by people hunting for the pot with fire, or igniting fires with live cigarette stubs has almost become a norm probably because no punitive action exists against offenders which actions also endanger biodiversity as forests scorched or destroyed by fires or wiped off the face of earth with the axe to clear land for housing or for food production.
It is in light of the above destructive actions by homosapiens that this pen applauds measures being taken by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Cde Francis Nhema, to harvest grass in veld fire-prone areas to thwart wildfires and have the grass turned into hay for cattle in drought-ravaged areas, especially in southern Zimbabwe.
Not only that, the measures taken in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture will also contain an educational component that will, hopefully, enlighten Zimbabweans about the dangers of uncontrolled fires.
This pen believes, however, that any awareness campaign will not achieve much if not accompanied with some form of sanctions to instill the fear of both the law and God among potential offenders who play with fire in the same way as innocent children play with toys.
Those to be made to face the wrath of the law should include people responsible for deforestation which robs humanity of wild fruit trees that contain medicinal properties as well as medicinal plants which may also be rendered extinct by the axe.
Then there is this other group on the hunt for wealth also leaving in its wake untold devastation of the environment and yet the powers that be also appear to treat these people with kid gloves.
Alluvial gold panners have torn and continue to tear riverbeds apart, threatening to kill the water courses.
Gold hunters leave behind them huge mounds of soil as they search for the precious yellow metal, apparently unmindful of floods carrying downstream the earth and in the process silting lakes and dams thereby depriving people and their livestock of water.
Add to that the poisoning of water with cyanide which gold diggers use in their activities.
In some cases panners have threatened the destruction of school buildings and residential homes under which they did for the much-sort-after-precious metal.
Yet, ironically, these people go scot free inspite of the money they earn after killing the geese that lay the golden eggs for them.
This pen feels that the time has come for gold panners to contribute money towards the rehabilitation of the environment harmed by their mindless activities.
If each farmer or group of panners are made to pay an environmental rehabilitation levy for the reparation of the damage caused, we might see a great deal of sanity and circumspection in alluvial gold panning with more environmental protection as a result.
Right now measures are under way by the Government to provide better equipment for use by the miners and a strong case exists therefore, for proper use of any mining equipment given to preserve the environment.
Similarly, mining companies as well as factories that discharge dangerous chemicals or effluent into rivers should be made to pay ERL (Environmental Rehabilitation Levies) to the Environmental Management Authority which can then use the money to rehabilitate the affected environment.
In fact, anyone or groups of people posing a danger in one way or another to the environment should be made to face harsh sanctions of the law to deter would- be offenders.
If the members of the public realise the indispensability of a healthy environment to their very existence, chances are these people will become watchdogs over the environment and environmental vandals will be tamed.
Rhetorical watchdogs are like a person crying in the wilderness where no one hears him or her.
In this regard, authorities might wish to take effective measures against litter bugs who have also brought the environment under siege by discarding plastic containers indiscriminately making both urban and rural areas unsightly.
Worse still, the plastic bags become fertile breeding beds for mosquitoes and other dangerous insects in the rainy season.
Food outlets and other business dealers selling their products in plastic containers that weather the weather should be reined in and made to package their products in containers that are environmentally friendly for the good of all.
Online Reporter