Youths planting trees.  They want the environment to be protected at all cost

The Ministry of Environment has enthusiastically welcomed the call by the youth of Seychelles to crack down severely on all forms of pollution and on persons who commit environmental offences.

The call comes in the Aspiration 2013 document presented to President Albert Rene on National Day. The presentation at Stad Linite following the traditional June 18 parade was the culmination of eight weeks of consultations Vice-President James Michel had with the youth of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue from March to May this year.

More than 3,000 youth took part in the 60 sessions at secondary, post-secondary and district level to express their aspirations for the development of Seychelles over the next decade. Their hopes and wishes have been compiled in the document presented to President Rene.

"We wish to maintain our position as a world leader in environment protection and request that even stricter measures be applied to ensure proper waste disposal and the removal of all forms of pollution, including noise and smell nuisance," states the page on the environment.

"We recommend that sensitisation efforts be further intensified and more activities organised for our benefit. We would like to see severe punitive sanctions being raised against perpetrators of environment offences," it adds.

"This is music to our ears," Environment Minister Ronny Jumeau commented on receiving his copy of Aspiration 2013.

"The Seychellois youth have been forthright in their views and feelings, and their message is unequivocal," he said.

Addressing a workshop on environmental law and enforcement in January this year, Mr Jumeau had noted that while the authorities had a loud bark, this was all too often ignored because it was not backed by a sufficiently sharp bite.

"So what we will add to our bark this year, is a set of very sharp teeth," he told the workshop.

"The youth aspirations for the environment will encourage us to sharpen those teeth even more," Mr Jumeau said while commenting on the document.

The ministry had since last year been working closely with the Attorney General's Office to find more effective and expeditions ways of enforcing environmental laws and regulations and taking offenders to court.

Responding to the other youth aspirations, Mr Jumeau said Seychelles had recently scored notable new successes on the international front, further consolidating its position as a world leader in environmental protection.

"On July 1, for example, have taken over, together with Britain, the co-chairmanship of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) for the next two years," the Minister said.

All efforts to save and protect coral reefs around the world fall under the umbrella of ICRI. The importance of the co-chairmanship is underscored by the fact that more than 350 million people around the globe obtain their livelihood from coral reefs.

The environment  ministry's recent restructuring would enable even better waste disposal and pollution control, Mr Jumeau continued, and education, information and public relations efforts were constantly being reviewed and upgraded.

Addressing the call for more activities for the youth in protecting and promoting the environment, Minister Jumeau assured the participants of Aspiration 2013 the younger generations would increasingly feature in the Government's efforts to achieve sustainable development within "a clean, healthy and ecologically balanced environment" as enshrined in the Seychelles Constitution.

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