admin
Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
INDUSTRY lobby group, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has appealed to government to extend the June 30 deadline set by the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) for companies to comply with new environment regulations on water pollution.Thirty one companies which failed to comply with the deadline have already been shut down by Ema after the expiry of the deadline.
CZI advisory board member, Dr Joseph Kanyekanye, said government needs to be flexible on the time frame for firms to comply with the new statutory requirements as some of the projects which need to be undertaken by some companies are capital intensive.
He said: “We indicated to government that where there are deadlines agreed by both parties they will be honoured. Where there is a difficulty with complying with them there will be a discussion with the authorities to extend.
“There are companies which require a bit of time so that they can pool resources to rectify the anomaly. However, I sincerely believe that industry must not pollute the environment because it is unethical to make money while killing people.”
The chairperson of the inter-ministerial cabinet committee on water pollution, Dr Ignatius Chombo said his committee was yet to consider industry’s request.
Dr Chombo, who is also the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, said the committee will only entertain the request after a report on the issue has been tabled before it this week.
“We are going to get the report this week and we should be able to comment authoritatively when we go through it,” he said.
Recently, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Cde Chiratidzo Mabuwa said her ministry was engaging Dr Chombo seeking an extension of the deadline for companies to comply.
Online Reporter