Environmental enforcement is a global concern. Many countries are taking action to protect environmental degradation in order to restore and protect the quality of their natural environment. They have developed management strategies to prevent or control environmental degradation. Most environmental management strategies involve legal requirements that must be met by individuals and facilities that cause environmental degradation. This article, however, discusses an environmental enforcement strategy for informal sector activities, especially the brick making activities in the urban environment of Morogoro Municipality in Tanzania. The article is based on a study conducted from February to May 2005, and starts by considering an overview of the informal sector activities, its effects on the urban environment, challenges of brick making activities and lastly the way forward for environmental enforcement strategies.

Overview of informal sector activities

Rapid urban expansion of the last decade has greatly increased the economic importance of human settlements and the pressure on the urban environment, and on surrounding regions and their natural resources. It is clear that the rapid rate of urbanization in Sub-Sahara Africa has not been accompanied by a corresponding expansion of the formal sector. This has resulted in the growth of urban unemployment on one hand and a thriving informal sector on the other hand. Simon (2001), revealed that the proliferation of informal sector activities in urban areas has been increasing as a result of the decline of formal sector employment of the urban labour force as natural population increases, and the rural urban migration due to limited employment opportunities in rural areas. Another cause of informal sector activities in urban areas is the meager income paid to the workers for the formal sector versus cost of living in urban areas. Formal employment opportunities in urban areas, particularly in Tanzania , cannot cope with the increasing size of the labour force. It is estimated that the informal sector has a capacity to employ about 65% of the annual increase in the labour force while the formal sector can only absorb 8.5% (Simon, 2001 quoting Kombe, 1997).

Generally the operation of informal sector activities has significant effects on the environment. For example, according to the Mwanza Municipal Council (1998:40), informal sector activities cause environmental degradation, and lead to land depletion through stone quarrying, brick making and pollution of Lake Victoria . Further, solid and liquid waste from industries, residential areas and petty trade activities is disposed of indiscriminately, becoming a nuisance and creating health problems for the residents of the city. Rene (1997), points out that the informal sector is associated with health problems such as poor housekeeping, poor lighting, long work hours, poor work place design and unawareness of chemical risks. Similarly, according to Allen et al (1998), in Mexico small-scale traditional brick kilns are a notorious informal sector source of urban air pollution.

Effects of brick making activities in Morogoro Municipality

The study discovered that brick making activities in Morogoro Municipality have both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, positive effects include employment opportunities, income generation and provision of building materials. On the other hand, negative effects include air pollution, land degradation and water pollution. Therefore, despite the importance of brick making to the urban development, the need for environmental conservation must also be taken into account.

Emerging challenges from the brick making activities in Morogoro Municipality

According to the study, emerging challenges from brick making activities are: lack of environmental education of the brick makers, a poor relationship between the Municipality and the brick makers, lack of proper interpretation and enforcement of the existing laws, lack of environmental plans, and illegal occupancy of the brick making areas. Generally, all of these challenges have led to noncompliance with environmental management strategies.

Way forward

As a result, there is need for enforcement of laws, provision of legal and suitable sites for brick making, use of environmental impact assessments, encouragement of environmental research and improved awareness of the magnitude of the effects of brick making.

For effective enforcement of brick making laws/policies, the following areas must be improved:

• Ensure fairness (avoid biases) of the laws;
• Use appropriate language to ensure maximum communication, thus making it easier to understand;
• Create laws that emphasize decentralization of powers to local leaders, which may be used to report any intention and give power to coordinate all functions and activities geared towards the protection of environment within their areas;
• Promote compliance through education and incentives;
• Ensure consistency of brick making laws with any existing laws in other sectors;
• Ensure that brick making requirements are enforceable and that there are adequate funds for their implementation;
• Provide the authority necessary to enforce brick making laws.

For more information, please see: Allen, B and Geofrey, B. (1998). Pollution Control in the Informal Sector: The Ciudal Juarez Brick Makers Project; Mwanza Municipal Council (MMC). (1998). Environmental Profile for Mwanza Municipal. Mwanza. Unpublished; Rene, L. (1997). Health Impact of Occupational Risks in the Informal Sector in Zimbabwe ; Simon. (2001). Challenges and Strategies of Accommodating Informal Sector Activities in Urban Areas. Dar es salaam, Tanzania .