ESG Radio May 27th 2011
After our last radio broadcast a couple of callers rang in to Radio Gibraltar with some questions and observations prompted by what they’d just heard. We welcome this. We’d therefore like to start this week’s broadcast by responding to these comments. The first caller asked why local environmental groups were not publicly addressing the issue of contaminated sand from the tunnel works. Firstly, and speaking for ourselves, we would like to remind anyone concerned and interested in local environmental issues to please contact us for information. As it happens the ESG has been in discussion on this issue with members of the public and Govt for some time and we have also requested permission to visit the Soil Cleansing Plant based at Catalan Bay Car Park. We have also sought to verify the monitoring being carried out by the Dept of Environment, Environmental Agency and Technical Services. If we learn that action is being taken to ensure best practice is carried out and that plans exist to address and improve a situation then we save our energies for public lobbying on other matters. We ask the caller to please contact us if he has a specific question we can help with.
A second caller followed asking us to “lay off the internet” and focus on issues that matter like the Refinery – Clearly the caller is not aware of our CEPSA Campaign which has dominated our agenda since we formed as a group nearly ten years ago. We have spearheaded the local/cross border and European campaign against the Refinery to force change upon this toxic plant to clean up its act! and fail to see how we can be challenged on this front. We invite the caller to visit our website where she will find loads of information on the close to ten year campaign. Well, perhaps she doesn’t use the internet so she could then call us on 200-48996 and we shall be very pleased to provide her with this information.
As a voluntary environmental group with limited resources we nevertheless believe we are helping place environmental issues in the public domain and we shall continue to do so.
We would like to now refer to our Wish List on the environment which was published recently and produced specifically to lobby all parties standing for election in 2011. We should say that we have been impressed and surprised by the scale and nature of responses we have received to date from both ESG members & the public which has sparked off a debate in its own right.
If you haven’t yet caught up with our list we recommend you do so. You can download this from our website, or call us for a copy which can be sent to you. The ESG remains open to suggestions, ideas and information resources and welcomes your feedback.
A reminder that “World Environmental Day” is coming up on the 5th June. The ESG has been invited to participate in a Malta Based, Mediterranean wide Environmental Exhibition held to commemorate “World Environment Day” as well as “World Oceans Day”. The exhibition will display materials from local and foreign NGO’s working on issues such as: water and air pollution, diminishing resources, climate change and more with the key aim of “stimulating worldwide awareness of environmental issues and encourage political action”. We shall be sent more information on the exhibition by the organizers and hope to share this with you soon.
Finally, we are constantly reminded that lasting environmental change starts with each and every one of us. So why not try and turn over a green leaf on World Environment Day and do something positive for the environment? Get involved! Visit our website for local campaign information at esg-gib.net. Visit the GONHS website at: gonhs.org for information on our wonderful wildlife and local biodiversity- also visit Govts own website on the environment which may surprise some of you as it carries a growing number of useful reports and articles on local issues – You can find this at: gibraltar.gov.gi/environment/environment
Thanks for listening. ESG
