[kictanet] Kenyan minister calls for dumping alert

[alice]

*Kenyan minister calls for dumping alert*
>
>
> BY EVELYNE NJOROGE
> Updated 1 hours 23 minutes ago 
> *NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 26 - African ICT regulators have been urged to be 
> more stringent in vetting equipment that gets into the continent as 
> one way of dealing with electronic waste.*
>
>
>
> Information Minister Samuel Poghisio said on Monday this was one of 
> the sustainable ways that should be adopted to ensure that Africa is 
> not used as a dumping ground for e-waste.
>
> "One way of dealing with this problem is by strengthening our national 
> regulatory bodies to bar the entry of sub-standard equipment into our 
> markets," he said.
>
> The demand for ICT technology in the continent - driven mainly by the 
> need to keep up with the rest of the world - has seen electronic waste 
> rise to unprecedented levels as developed countries move to dispose 
> off their obsolete equipment to Africa.
>
> Old computers, mobile phone handsets and now television sets (as the 
> world prepares to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting) are 
> some of the electronic gadgets that are increasingly finding their way 
> into the African market.
>
> The issue is further compounded by the fact that many African 
> countries do not have legislation to manage the waste which has both 
> environmental and health implications. Despite this threat, however, 
> not much focus is being given to this issue.
>
> "In the last 10 years, African governments have been preoccupied with 
> the issue of universal access but this aspiration is yet to be 
> realised.  Given the high sales of cheap mobile handsets, their short 
> life span and the customers' desire to keep up with the latest trendy 
> handsets, this problem will remain with us for a long time," the 
> minister regretted.
>
> Kenya, through an organisation called 'Computer for Schools Kenya', 
> has however devised a way of managing this problem mainly through 
> recycling old computers. This involves extracting reusable parts from 
> the machines and using them to assemble 'new' computers which are then 
> distributed to schools at a fee.
>
> Mr Poghisio spoke during an International Telecommunication Union 
> (ITU) workshop on the provision of quality telecommunication services 
> in a safe environment where participants heard that mobile operators 
> in the continent are yet to meet the minimum threshold of quality of 
> service.
>
> "This could be partly ascribed to high rates of service subscription, 
> which have exerted pressure on the mobile network resources of service 
> providers," he said.
>
> He however pointed out that this calls for regulators to sensitise 
> consumers on the best ways to take advantage of the competitive 
> environment in the telecommunications sector to get value for their money.
>
> ...
>
> http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/Kenyabusiness/Kenyan-minister-calls-for-dumping-alert-4475.html
>
> ___