New fees regime for EIA process an opportunity for Green Fuel to comply

The recent proclamation by Environmental Management Agency (EMA) on the reduction of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) fees from 3percent to less than 1 percent of the total project cost is a perfect opportunity for us to remind Green Fuel of the need to go public about their EIA processes.

We are very much alive to the fact that the company has perfected the art of brushing off criticism from the public and the local community but it should be noted that this issue is too serious to be brushed off considering the alleged hazardous consequences of polluting community water sources by effluent from ethanol production.

Green Fuel claims that they have complied with the legislative requirement of the EIA before the inception of the ethanol project in 2009.

The Environmental Impact Assessment involves evaluating both positive and negative environmental consequences of a project. An EIA is a planning tool used to identify, predict and assess potential impacts, either negative or positive, that may arise from planned projects and come up with ways to minimize negative impacts and enhance positive ones. In Zimbabwe, all projects listed in the first schedule of the Environmental Management Act are called prescribed activities and should undergo the EIA process before implementation

As was highlighted by EMA Education and Publicity Manager Steady Kangata on ZBC News recently, investors should now find it easy to fulfill the legislative requirement to undergo the EIA process.

Platform for Youth Development Trust has observed that most investors have either not fulfilled this legislative requirement or have not made their reports public citing high costs involved in the process.

The Chisumbanje Ethanol project has torched the eye of a storm due to the alleged pollution that prompted stakeholders including PYD to demand the ethanol project to make available their EIA report.

EMA has previously noted that Green Fuel has allegedly been avoiding the EIA process, opting for a cheaper route of polluting and paying fine than to fulfill the legislative requirements of carrying out EIA processes.

PYD therefore believes that the Environmental Impact Assessment on Chisumbanje Ethanol project still remains outstanding. It is also pertinent for Green Fuel to be open about its processes as a way of building trust and professionalism which they currently need more than anything.  Gone should be the days when the company conducts its business in secret because the outcomes of their secret processes have often affected people as witnessed by the various reports of death of livestock linked to affluent water from the ethanol plant.

Inserted by the PYD Information Department

For more details contact PYD Director on 263 773 010 331 or PYD Board Chairperson 263 772 896 458