Latif SANSÜR
DİDİM – Doğan News Agency (DHA)
Didim Municipality is training 135 voluntary environmental inspectors, 35 of whom are students, to report environmental violations, such as littering, to a municipal committee.
The committee is authorized to issue fines for the violations.
During an April 5 session, Didim Municipality voted unanimously to carry on the “Voluntary Environmental Inspectors” project in order to increase environmental awareness and sensitivity.
The training of the 135 voluntary environmental inspectors started a month ago and municipality engineers and the municipality inspector have continued training the candidates each week. In the final week, officers from the naval garrison command will brief the group on sea cleaning and regulations. At the end of the training, voluntary environment inspectors will be given certificates and identity cards.
The voluntary inspectors are permitted to intervene in several instances such as dropping cigarette butts, throwing litter, cutting down trees and polluting the sea. The Municipal Committee will evaluate the reports processed by voluntary environmental inspectors and then fine the suspects according to relevant laws. Claiming that they were breaking new ground, Mayor Mümin Kamaca from Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said the aim of the project was to promote the idea of looking after the city and taking necessary precautions to save the environment.
Local and regional government offices and organizations, including the office of the district governor, the municipal assembly, the district national education directorate, the garrison command and the Environmental Protection and Packaging Waste Utilization Association, or ÇEVKO, all cooperated on the project.
(Source: www.hurriyetdailynews.com )