Environmental Justice
Action in Southern Africa
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Environmental Justice
Action in Southern Africa |
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Monday,
April 8, 2002 Call
for a ban on incineration in the Southern Africa region After a
three-day strategic meeting and a day-long dialogue with government political
representatives and officials, civil society representatives from Southern
Africa called for a ban on incineration to be implemented by 2006. Civil
society’s call for the ban was further inspired after being addressed by the
Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism, Rejoice Mabudafasi on Monday
morning. She indicated that the
South African government will ratify the Stockholm Convention before the world
Summit on Sustainable Development. "This is a
positive political statement from a southern government leader,” states Manny
Calonzo, Assistant Southern Coordinator of the Global Anti Incineration
Alliance, based in Manila, Philippines. Manny Calonzo was present at the civil
society gathering to share the global anti-incineration strategy and call for
alternatives to medical waste management, rather than just incineration.
The Philippine government banned incineration in 1999.
(see www.bwf.org) Llewellyn
Leonard, coordinator of the groundWork Health Care Waste and Incineration
programme supported the Kwa Zulu-Natal government’s programme on closing all
hospital incinerators. The outcomes of
the three day civil society meeting led to the adoption of the: Isipingo Declaration on eliminating the harmful impacts of health care waste and incinerators in Southern African communities. More
on health care waste and incineration
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