by Charleen Yoma
In 1960 this river ran freely and the water was so clean and clear you could drink it.
Pohnpei such a lovely name for a beautiful island. It is known as the “Garden Island” because of its luscious green forest and waterfalls. Everything about it is magical and it’s a shame that the dumping of wastes at the mangrove swamp in Dekehtik should shatter all this beauty.
The mangrove swamp is where the people of Pohnpei go to dump their garbage. It is not a pleasant sight to tourists that come to enjoy and relax on this wonderful island of Pohnpei. Every year about 99% of Pohnpeians use the mangrove place as a waste area, but they do not see that all this dumping of wastes is destroying the mangroves and polluting the air. It would be a great idea if we, the people of Pohnpei, work together to stop polluting our beautiful island, especially our mangroves and ocean. We must think smart when dealing with our environment. The leaders of Pohnpei should not consider the waste area as a threat but instead a problem to be solved.
Imagine you are taking a walk down the causeway just enjoying the view and the lovely morning breeze, and suddenly the air changes, smoke is everywhere and you start to inhale the smell of burning fumes. The smell is being picked up by the wind from the waste area, where garbage and plastics are being burned. The air there is so thin that you can actually suffocate if you get too close to the dumping area without a mask on. All this makes me shiver from head to toe.
To solve the problem regarding the waste area, we should not just depend on our leaders to do all the thinking and acting but instead, we must act accordingly to help and participate in solving this problem. Why not a recycling factory? It will make a big difference. If we really want to keep Pohnpei a beautiful island then we must always use our brains when dealing with Nature.