By Elishamai A Ziumbwa
has intensified its efforts to ensure adherence to environmental laws, following alarming findings from its ongoing second-quarter nationwide compliance blitz.
In a statement, the agency’s Environmental, Education and Publicity manager Amkela Sidange said the agency conducted 4 896 inspections resulting in the issuance of 1 098 tickets and 819 Environmental Protection Orders (EPOs).
“As part of the exercise, the agency is using technology to carry out prompt analysis of the quality of the environment for immediate decision-making and intervention,” Sidange said.
Sidange said some of the preliminary findings from the exercise indicate that there is increased non-compliance in the liquid and solid waste management.
She said the agency found violations of standing environmental regulations through significant discharge of partly treated and raw wastewater into the environment as well as underperforming solid waste management systems.
“This is having a direct impact on the quality of water, with most water bodies downstream of urban areas exhibiting increased nutrient loads associated with wastewater, whereas poor solid waste management has literally reduced open spaces in most urban areas into dumping sites,” she said.
The agency called for the urgent adoption of sustainable practices in every development, especially for prescribed projects that should be implemented under an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment licence from the Agency.
“It remains key to integrate ecologically sustainability into every form of development for the protection of the natural capital for posterity. We also call upon the general public to play that significant role of custodianship of the environment and ensure everyone has access to a clean environment that is not harmful to health,” Sidange said.
