By Rodgers Omondi, Busia
St Peter’s Budokomi Senior School Principal Dishon Shiundu has called on the government to introduce national environmental cleaning days to promote conservation and address pollution and the effects of climate change.
Speaking after leading students in a cleaning exercise at the Busia County Commissioner’s office, Shiundu said setting aside specific days for collective environmental cleaning would encourage Kenyans to take greater responsibility for keeping their surroundings clean and safe.
“We need to have national cleaning days that will see everyone concentrating on cleaning the environment and making it safe for our lives. Our environment has been polluted and destroyed, leaving us struggling to deal with climate change. There is much focus on planting trees, but we should also focus on maintaining the ones already planted,” he said.
Shiundu further called on government agencies responsible for environmental conservation to ensure that existing policies and guidelines were effectively implemented, noting that inadequate enforcement continued to undermine conservation efforts.
“As a nation, we have lacked sustainable strategies that will ensure environmental conservation. The government is providing proper guidelines, but the challenge has remained the lack of proper implementation of the existing policies and the laxity of those entrusted with the responsibility,” he said.
He urged learning institutions to take a leading role in environmental conservation by involving learners in cleaning activities and strengthening collaboration with government institutions.
“Every year, as a school, we conduct environmental conservation and cleaning exercises outside the school. This year, we are doing it at the County Commissioner’s office to improve collaboration between the school and other national government institutions,” he said.
Nelly Makobi, a teacher at St Peter’s Budokomi Senior School, emphasised the importance of involving learners in environmental conservation from an early age to instil responsible practices that they would carry into their communities after leaving school.
“We are engaging learners in environmental conservation so that when they leave school, they will be able to protect the environment in their communities. They have to understand that without environmental conservation, there is no life. This should start when they are young so that they grow up with a clear understanding of the importance of taking part in conservation efforts,” she said.
School captain Mitchelle Aresurb said learners also had a responsibility to protect the environment, noting that destructive practices, including indiscriminate tree cutting, had contributed to climate change and affected communities.
“We have been affected by climate change due to the habit of destroying the environment and cutting down trees without replacing them. As learners, we have been advocating for tree planting at our homesteads to increase tree cover in our county,” she said.
Aresurb urged learners and the wider community to embrace environmental cleaning and conservation at all levels, including homes, schools, public spaces and private premises, to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment.
