After years of neglect, the Palestinians are going green. In a society preoccupied with the struggle for independence from Israel, protecting the environment has often been sidelined — as evidenced by the ubiquitous sight of burning trash and piles of garbage bags on sidewalks in this city of 30,000 north of Jerusalem.
Trying to raise awareness, officials are encouraging thousands of children to collect compost, and visit recycling centers and plant trees. The hope is that the young generation will learn good habits, and maybe teach their parents something about conservation.
Still, educators say they face many obstacles: paltry budgets, poor infrastructure, bad habits and life under Israel’s thumb.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
Malvena Aljamal, who runs the environmental directorate at the Ramallah municipality, said the challenges are many. Ten percent of Ramallah’s waste goes uncollected daily because some residents are too lazy to take it to the containers spread around the city. Instead, they burn their garbage, releasing toxic chemicals, or just toss it into neighbors’ yards and open lots.
The rest of the West Bank faces greater hurdles. Yousef Abu Safiya of the Palestinian Environmental Authority says he lacks the resources to enforce bans on unregulated burning and dumping, or to create a green police force of 200 officers.
He said his office is integrating green values into schools and summer camps around the West Bank, but the education effort is hamstrung by isorganization.
(AP)
經過多年的忽視,巴勒斯坦人終於開始重視環保。在這個長期尋求脫離以色列獨立建國的社會裡,保護環境經常受到冷落—從這個位於耶路撒冷北方、人口三萬人的城市裡隨處可見焚燒的垃圾堆,以及路邊排滿了成堆垃圾袋就可以證明。
為了提高環保意識,官員們正鼓勵數千名學童蒐集堆肥、參觀資源回收中心並種樹。當局希望下一代能學到環保的好習慣,或者還能把保育觀念教給家長。
但教師們表示,他們仍面臨許多障礙,如預算不足、缺乏基礎建設、生活習慣不佳,以及民眾生活完全受到以色列控制等。
朗阿拉市環保局長阿賈瑪說,環保的挑戰有很多。朗阿拉市每天有百分之十的廢棄物未被清運,因為有些居民懶到不肯把垃圾拿到全市各地的垃圾箱裡丟棄。他們寧可焚燒垃圾,散發有毒化學物質,或者乾脆把垃圾丟到鄰居的院子裡或空地上。
西岸其他地區則面臨更大困境。巴勒斯坦環保署官員沙非亞說,他缺乏資源來執行非法焚燒與傾倒垃圾的禁令,或者成立一支兩百人的環保警察。
他表示該署打算把環保價值融入西岸各學校與夏令營的教育中,但這項努力卻因缺乏組織而受限。
(美聯社/翻譯:俞智敏)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: As well as Eid al-Fitr, Southeast Asia is celebrating the Water Festival this week. B: And this year, Thailand is expanding the celebration between April 12 and 16 for the event, officially known as the Songkran Festival, expecting to make 24.3 billion Thai baht in tourism revenue. A: Does Taiwan celebrate the Water Festival? B: Some local cities and counties do have similar activities. A: Let’s go experience the festival then. A: 除了「開齋節」外,東南亞「潑水節」本週也盛大登場! B: 泰國今年從4月12日到16日擴大「宋干節」連假,預估觀光收入可高達243億泰銖。 A: 台灣會慶祝「潑水節」嗎? B: 有些縣市會舉辦類似活動。 A: 那我們也去體驗一下吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)