Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has raised concern over the discharge of at least 366 mega litres of sewage into the environment.
The agency said sewer treatment infrastructure in most towns is being overwhelmed by increased waste generation.
EMA’s manager responsible for Education and Environment, Ms Amkela Sidange yesterday said that they had conducted an assessment of most local authorities’ sewage plants to ascertain the state of affairs.
“An assessment conducted by the Environmental Management Agency revealed that an estimated 366 mega litres of raw and partially treated sewage is being discharged daily into the environment particularly by urban local authorities. Out of the identified 70 Sewage treatment plants in the 32 urban local authorities with a combined design capacity to receive and fully treat 579,38 mega litres per day, 21 percent are down and non-operational,” she said.
Ms Sidange also said water quality monitoring results show high phosphate levels in rivers passing through the main cities and towns and this is largely as a result of non-functional sewage treatment facilities.
She said water contamination and pollution therefore remains a major challenge in the country as more water bodies are reduced to dead streams and lakes with associated huge rehabilitation costs thereby exposing communities to recurring diseases.
Ms Sidange said the pollution impacts on the provision of quality water, especially in urban areas and also affects water quality for crop and livestock production.
She said communities are being denied access to clean and safe water as required in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Ms Sidange said EMA was on the ground enforcing local authorities’ compliance with regulations.
“We recently took Norton and Kadoma town councils to court on charges of polluting the environment, where Norton was fined $25 000 for two offences and was among other things ordered to rehabilitate, repair and upgrade their water and sewer treatment plants and pipes to EMA’s satisfaction within three months,” she said.
“We have four cases before the High Court and about six more local authorities to be taken to court for the same offences of polluting the environment.”
She said they were also concerned about urban wetlands degradation mostly due to infrastructural development.
Ms Sidange said they had since fined Chitungwiza town council $24 000 for issuing commercial stands in a wetland without a wetland utilisation permit.
In addition, she said the local authority was ordered to stop all construction and failure to do so will result in the opening of a docket.
“To date more than 200 development projects in urban areas, mostly housing developments, have been rejected by the Agency on site suitability as the developments were proposed on wetland areas,” she said.
Ms Sidange urged local authorities to desist from allocating land on wetland areas saying the councils should appreciate that land is a finite resource. — @tupeyo.
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