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(FEATURE ARTICLE FOR APRIL) POPULATION GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION |
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by Mohamed Sannoh | 15-04-2022 12:31
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In urban communities across Sierra Leone, more and more people move from rural to urban areas to settle, the carrying capacity of waste disposal, roads, hospitals, schools, telecommunications services, accommodation and transport services are outstretched. This high demand for infrastructure increases due to the shift of people from rural areas to settle there since there is congestion and lack of housing facilities else where. These communities are hence experiencing an increased strain on its existing infrastructural systems such as proper waste management, accommodation and transport services. To make matter worse, since MASADA; a waste management company vanished from the seen, the Researcher started seeing piles of garbage littering these communities and it immediate environs on a daily basis thus leading to massive flooding in the streets which might lead to calamity during this particular wet season. Solid wastes such as garage decomposable waste from food, rubbish: non-decomposable (such as paper, wood, and cloth) or non-combustible (such as metal, glass and ceramics), ashes: residues of the combustion of solid fuels, large wasters: demolition and construction debris and trees, dead animals, sewage-treatment solid: material retained on sewage–treatment screens, settled solids and biomass sludge, industrial wastes: such materials as chemicals, paints and sand mining wastes: slag heaps and coal refuse piles, agricultural wasters: farm animal manure and crop residues are being disposed in these dump sites which sometime catches fire that cause pollution. High rate of increased population directly impacts the environment making these communities have increased pressure on the available resources resulting in environmental problems like loss of biodiversity, air and water pollution and increased pressure on arable land. There is also the dependency burden that affects the individuals of the working population. A lot is spent on big families and so little is saved for investment. This eventually leads to the persistent viscous cycle of poverty prompting the environment to more pressure on land use for sustainability. This therefore exerts a lot of pressure on the available resources such as housing, energy, education, health, transport, water, and recreational amenities. It leads to the deterioration of social services such as water and air, growth of slums and congestion. Transport activities is one of the causes of environmental degradation which occur in the form of air pollution, noise and oil spills from marine shipping. In these communities, a lot of very old vehicles are seen plying the road causing pollution to the atmosphere. There is no time limit for which a vehicle should be used on the road. Some vehicles are in poor mechanical condition causing a lot of pollution to the atmosphere. They are also a threat to human life since they are among the major causes of road accidents. The manufacturing technology has caused harm to the environment. This is evidenced by intensive resource and energy use causing resource depletion, water, air and pollution and degradation of the ecosystem. There are huge amounts of industrial and hazardous wastes that cause serious environmental health problems. As far as industrialization is concerned, there is a lot of wasted waste. There is waste and misuse of the environment as well as increased environmental degradation. There is an increased moral degeneration to the workers in the industry and this affects sustainable development. Secondary, industrialists aim at profit maximization at the expense of the welfare of the communities. Externalities lead to the deterioration of the living standards of the people. As ambassadors, we have a task at hand to raise awareness on environmental injustice for a sustainable outcome.
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3 Comments
Thank you so much for the useful information!
Posted 02-08-2022 01:24
Hello Mohamed, this is your mentor Chelwoon.
Interesting article about the relationship between population growth and environmental pollution! Here in Korea, we also have the same problem that many people are moving from rural to urban areas to settle. I think, in Korea, the problems resulting from this issue are found more in the rural areas as opposed to your country. Most of factories are located in the rural areas, which cause many environmental problems. Luckily, many restrictions and regulations have been implemented in order to prevent problems from happening.
I hope your country can implement or integrate these solutions to further fix the problem.
Thank you for the article!
Regards,
Chelwoon
Posted 18-04-2022 07:09
Hello Mohamed, this is your mentor Joon.
It is always the problem when the industry tries to maximize their profit on the expense of local community. Taking responsibility on the problems they have made should be a natural actions, but not many industries and countries take it for granted. That is why proper regulations, restrictions, and bodies to watch the violation, which should be from third party, is always required. Also, not only blaming the industries, the attitude to find for solution inside the community is essential as we cannot take back the problems already happened.
Well read your article, and let's keep up!
Best,
Joon
Posted 17-04-2022 00:40