Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has completed crafting model by-laws that will help local authorities countrywide to fight pollution and littering in their respective areas.
EMA Principal Environmental Officer Mrs Precious Magwaza said most local authorities were using outdated by-laws which were making it difficult for them to enforce environmental laws.
Mrs Magwaza made the remarks during a recent stakeholders’ consultation meeting held in Harare to draft the country’s Low Emissions Development strategy (LEDs) which is being spearheaded by the Department of Climate Management.
Mrs Magwaza said they came up with model by-laws which local authorities may use to manage and enforce environmental related programmes.
“In 2011 we carried out a baseline survey together with the University of Zimbabwe, where it was established that as a country we are generating about 1,6 million tonnes of waste annually. We developed an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan in 2014. Generally this plan talks to the need to reduce what we generate and re-use what we can and recycle,” she said.
Mrs Magwaza said the plan was developed in consultation with all the stakeholders including local authorities.
“We are hoping to implement it though we have been met with challenges, mostly because of traditional approaches, where we are generating litter for disposal and recycling initiatives are currently very low in the country.
“We also have issues to do with attitude of people and some law enforcement glitches being raised by local authorities concerning legislation,” said Mrs Magwaza.
“As an agency we can’t be everywhere to monitor everyone who throws litter everywhere and we are saying people should have the right attitude. With regards to law enforcement, local authorities countrywide have outdated by laws and we are saying these are the laws they should be using to prosecute offenders, but generally they need upgrading. So what we have done as EMA is to develop model bylaws that local authorities may use to develop their own”.
She said the trivialisation of environmental issues was also another challenge for the agency and other actors to implement the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan.
Mrs Magwaza said it is important for environmental issues to be prioritised to find solutions to littering and pollution.
“We are saying let’s identify mechanisms of funding and harness resources to support the activities. As EMA, we are saying it shouldn’t be about local authorities only managing the waste. The magnitude of the problem has gone beyond them and it’s complicated if we take into account population growth, consumption levels among other factors,” she said.
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