18 Oct 2016

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama says waste management in Botswana remains a challenge.

Speaking at the Department of Waste Management and Pollution Control pitso in Gaborone on October 17, he said the population of Botswana was small, therefore generated waste was not economically viable.

He added that finances did not recognise green technologies in the same way as they did in polluting technologies.

“If we continue to be in the way we are, we are going to end up in a detereorating environment where we will have no value,” he said.

Mr Tshekedi said if the waste challenges were not treated seriously this will affect the economic lifestyle of Botswana.

“I believe that it is time that as business people and as conservationist we now turn and make a paradigm shift to look at opportunities that we can achieve from waste,” he said.

He said the world, through COP 21 and 22 conferences, was no longer in isolation, even the superpowers were signing agreements because they realised that life was unsustainable if human nature continued to be polluted the way it was. ENDS