Gov’t, partners in campaign against plastics on L. Victoria

The government together with development partners have joined the Flipflopi initiative to showcase alternative uses of plastic waste along the shores of Lake Victoria.

Flipflopi is the world’s first sailing boat made from 100% recycled plastic. It has sailed from Kisumu, Kenya to several locations in Uganda and Tanzania.

The boat (Dhow) is raising awareness and inspiring communities to adopt circular-waste solutions to beat plastic pollution on Africa’s largest freshwater body in a space of three weeks.

The Dhow made from plastic waste collected from the shores of Lake Victoria during its showcasing at Ggaba Landing Site. (Photo by Abou Kisige)

The Flipflopi project Founder and Builder of the Dhow, Ben Morson, said they embarked on the mission to send an urgent message to the East Africa community about the need to end the unnecessary single-use plastic scourge that is threatening the region.

“We are engaging community leaders, conservationists, business leaders and policymakers, demonstrating alternate uses of waste plastic and other circular waste models to end the use of single-use plastics,” Morson said.

A sculpture of fish being suffocated by plastic materials at Ggaba Landing Site. (Photo by Abou Kisige)

He made the remarks during the showcasing of a dhow made from plastic waste collected from the shores of Lake Victoria at Ggaba landing site in Kampala on Saturday.

He said Flipflopi was built to show the world that it is possible to make valuable materials out of waste plastic and that single-use plastic does not make sense.

“By sailing around the lake, we aim to inspire people to create their own waste-plastic innovations and adopt circular solutions that will build greener businesses, whilst also taking plastic out of the environment,” Morson said.

The Head of European Union Delegation for Sustainable Development, Nadia Cannato said by engaging various communities across the Lake Victoria region, they hope to bring awareness and innovative solutions to beat pollution and support a green recovery in East Africa.

Hand Bags made from plastic materials. (Photo by Abou Kisige)

Cannato said there’s an urgent need to mitigate the catastrophic effects of human activities and climate change, among other issues, resulting in significant water pollution which threatens the health and livelihoods of communities.

The Senior Water Office Coordinator in the Ministry of Water and Environment Gwendolyn Kyoburungyi said recent studies estimate that 1 in 5 of the fish in Lake Victoria had ingested plastic.

She said L. Victoria supports 40 million East Africans but over the past couple of years, it has been under increased pressure from mismanaged waste and pollution, threatening the health and livelihoods of communities.

Hand Bags made from plastic materials. (Photo by Abou Kisige)

Kyoburungyi added that since Lake Victoria is the third largest lake in the world by area, traversing it is the perfect opportunity to enhance the conversation of waste management on the lake.

Originally published at https://www.newvision.co.ug.