A clean environment attracts tourists and income
By Adolf Kaure.
Swakop Uranium recently donated cleaning goods worth N$50,000 to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) for the Dorob National Park clean up campaign.
The goods include wheelbarrows, roller bins, refuse bags, hats and gloves, among other things to clean up the Dorob National Park.
The donated goods have been designated to MEFT rangers, assistant rangers, wardens and technical service staff which include maintenance employees.
Speaking at the donation ceremony, MEFT’s control warden in the Erongo region, Siegfried Gawiseb expressed his gratitude to Swakop Uranium for the donation. “Namibia has one of the cleanest beaches in the world and this donation will help to maintain that. A clean beach is a visual attraction, bringing more people to the beaches and this also helps to grow Namibia’s tourism,” he said.
The control warden also said that more awareness needs to be created for locals to know the importance of keeping the parks clean. “People are not fully aware about what the waste can cause to the environment. Some of them are just doing it out of enjoyment and partying. You also find a few people who do it deliberately by bringing waste from home and dumping it in the parks,” said Gawiseb.
The waste is dumped mostly by locals and can be an eyesore for tourists who visit the coast.
He added that more funding is needed to keep the parks clean. “Stakeholders must come on board to start with the MEFT’s policy on parks and relations,” he said.
Public awareness, according to him, will be done by approaching local radio stations, television stations, visiting schools and sensitising them on keeping the parks clean and safe for children to play in.
“When the area is clean even children can play here because there are no broken bottles to hurt them.”
The Dorob National Park is a protected area, 1600 km long, along the Namibian coast in the Erongo region, consisting mostly of desert.
The clean up campaign took place on 6 November and targeted the park from the Swakopmund Bridge to Langstrand, including Vierkantklip and Dune 7.
Swakop Uranium recently donated a range of cleaning material and equipment to the staff of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism in Swakopmund for a clean-up campaign between the Swakop bridge and Langstrand.
