Chronicle Editor
Angela Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
GOVERNMENT has started consultations to amend the Environmental Management Act to ensure comprehensive protection of the country’s environment that leads to sustainable development.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality is leading the process.
Officially launching the consultation programme in Bulawayo, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu said the main reason for the amendment was to align the Act with the constitution.
“The review of the Environmental Management Act has been necessitated by two key developments namely, the need to align it to the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and secondly to update it in line with modern trends in environmental management, bearing in mind that the EMA Act was enacted almost two decades ago,” he said.
In October last year, Cabinet considered and approved the Principles for the Amendment of the Environmental Management Act.
The amendment is also set to harmonise the Act with the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act as well as regional and international treaties and conventions which Zimbabwe is a part of.
Minister Ndlovu said the amendment also seeks to address the environmental impact assessment processes and the financial implications involved in the administration of the Environmental Management Agency.
“Equally important is the need for us to critically review the environmental impact assessment processes and evaluate whether they are still in sync with the best practices, including cost effectiveness, all this viewed also within the broader context of the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe.
“Related to the above is also the financing of the regulatory processes and EMA as an institution given the current international trends and the international community’s attention to sustainable environmental management. Given the critical importance of prudent environmental stewardship, the need for a well-resourced regulator becomes paramount,” said Minister Ndlovu.
He said there is a need to set up a legal framework to address the issue of poor waste management countrywide.
“Poor waste management had gotten so bad that the Government instituted the National Clean-Up Campaign. Perhaps it is the time to set a legal framework that ensures sustainability of the programme, and importantly addresses to ensure effective enforcement and deterrent sentences,” said Minister Ndlovu.
The existing Environmental Management Act only gives EMA authority over legal miners who are registered and Minister Ndlovu said the amended act should also focus on addressing the problem of illegal miners who have taken over the eight rural provinces and have become the main source of land degradation.
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