First plastics dhow sails to Lake Victoria
By George Kebaso, September 24, 2020
George Kebaso @Morarak
The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has challenged Kenya’s neighbours to support the country’s efforts towards reducing plastics waste by enacting concrete laws.
Juliette Biao, Unep Director and Africa Regional Representative yesterday called for the regional collaboration to help combat plastic waste.
She said the environment is overwhelmed by millions of tonnes of plastics in landfills.
“Only nine per cent of nine billion tonnes of plastics the world has ever produced has been recycled.
Most ends up in landfills, dumps or in the environment,” she said during the launch of a clean-up exursion of Lake Victoria at Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) Headquarters.
Petition
The excursion by Flipflopi, the world’s first 100 per cent recycled plastic dhow, is supported by the governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), French Development Agency (AFD), UN Live as well as private sector entities including Waterbus.
Accompanying the expedition is a petition calling for all East African Community Member States to reach a regional consensus by adopting legislation to address single-use plastics and ban on non-essential plastics.
“As a regional actor historically involved in Lake Victoria’s ecosystem preservation, it is only natural for AFD to support this key expedition,” said Christian Yoka, AFD East Africa Regional Director.