Environmental exhibition sparks heated debate

by Cairen Harry and Tammy Sutherns

Grahamstown community members gathered in the Egazini Community Centre in Joza’s Extension 6 on Monday 20 October to take part in a multimedia exhibition and discussion on environmental issues in the Makana area. The exhibition, entitled “Take a LEAP, get to know your municipality”, was held by Rhodes University third year Journalism students as part of a wider campaign to raise awareness about Makana Municipality’s Local Environmental Action Plan (LEAP).

LEAP was created by the municipality in 2005 in an effort to align the municipality with national environmental policies for sustainable development. However, the implementation of these policies has been slowed down by numerous obstacles, leaving many of Grahamstown’s citizens outraged about continuing problems with waste, water, sanitation and electricity.

The ‘Take a LEAP’ exhibition focused on these and other environmental concerns with the screening of four short documentaries and the display of a graffiti banner and educational posters about the local environment. Two of the documentaries were television segments on litter and waste management in Grahamstown and the other two were audio-visual slides dealing with problems of waste disposal and the bucket toilet system in certain parts of Joza. According to the ‘Take a LEAP’ group, their aim was to encourage debate and discussion in response to their media in order to find out more about people’s environmental concerns as well as make them aware of the municipality’s aims and efforts.

Radio journalist Monique Senekal opened the exhibition by addressing the community and explaining the Take a LEAP campaign. “We are here to show you what we have produced and educate you on the Makana Environmental Policies. We want people to be aware of what the municipality is doing and to really investigate whether they are doing enough for our environment,” she said.

The discussion following the exhibition became quite heated as the community members responded to the presentation by both addressing the municipality as well as their neighbours. Various members of the audience complained that the municipality was not doing enough for the environment, with a general consensus that litter and waste management are huge problems in Joza. One community member spoke about the problems with medical waste, having found his children playing with needles that had not been properly disposed of by local medical centres, while another, Ntombozuko Tiniso, complained about the state of the township roads. “It is high time the municipality do tar in our area. The taxis that drive past are affecting our health,” she said.

However, many of the community members felt that the problem came from the residents themselves. “We all understand the problem of litter, but it starts with the individual at home,” said Extension 6 resident Linga Diko. Another resident, Ayabona Mnqanqeni, agreed. “It is high time we all start to feel responsible for the rubbish in the corners of the street,” he said.

Rhodes University Journalism lecturer Rod Amner, who was present for the discussion, proposed the use of innovative projects in Grahamstown that could aid waste management and the litter problems that are increasingly affecting the community, such as rewards for litter collection which was well received by several members of the audience.

While there is evidently a need for Municipality to address the concerns of the community, Bongani Diko, who runs the Egazini Community Centre concluded the discussion by saying that the community “need to stop pointing fingers and need to come together and learn from each other.” He added that the Egazini centre, which provides a space for local residents to create drama, poetry, dance and visual arts, is an important space for members to come together and reflect on community environmental issues. “There is a lot that we can all do as individuals. I’d like to open more arms, whenever we have something we need to reflect,” he said.

The resident’s concerns will be sent as television footage to the municipality.

The Take a LEAP campaign in part of a third year multimedia group project created to generate media production in terms of local environmental policies, utilizing the students’ skills of writing, radio, photography, design and television. The media produced for the campaign included educational posters to raise awareness about municipality policies and citizens’ rights, a banner where the public could write down their problems and give feedback about their concerns about waste, water and electricity as well as written pieces, audiovisual slides and television broadcasts generating stories around such environmental issues.