MINEPDED Wins Battle Against Plastic Paper

Pierre Hele says the fight against climate change and desertification will also be intensified.

The Minister of the Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED), Pierre Hele, says the phenomenon of plastic papers littering the streets and causing untold damage to man and the environment would be laid to rest in 2014.

This battle, he said, will be won through a programme, "Fight against pollutions, nuisances and harmful and/or dangerous chemicals." This will be through actions like revitalizing environmental policing by enhancing inspections and controls of installations or facilities, finalise the draft bill on environmental taxation as well as develop three draft environmental standards for the protection of water catchment sources in the forest areas, standards for the protection of mangroves and environmental standards on wood processing plants.

After defending the ministry's FCFA 6.461 billion 2014 envelop before the Budget and Finance Committee of the National Assembly on Saturday November 30, Minister Pierre Hele noted that other priority programmes will be the fight against desertification and climate change with the continued restoration of degraded ecosystems within the framework of the "Operation Green Sahel," by developing close to 2,000 hectares of land in the northern regions.

There is also the "Sustainable Management of Biodiversity programme" notably with the putting in place of databases to feed the environmental information system. The least of the programmes, the Minister said, will not be the "Steering and administration of MINEPDED support," which will strive to improve governance in the area of environmental management, protection of nature and sustainable development.