By Kudakwashe Pembere
FINES stipulated by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) for offenders destroying wetlands in the shape and form of land barons are not stringent enough, a legal think-tank has said.
In its International Wetlands Day commemorations statement, Veritas said land barons are taking advantage of the ‘lenient’ fines.
“There are deficiencies in the Environmental Management Act, which imposes strict controls on the development of wetlands. Most glaring are the small fines payable for regularisation of developments that have taken place without environmental impact studies and without approval from the Environmental Management Authority (EMA),” the organisation said.
“Unscrupulous land barons feel free to develop properties outside the law knowing fully well they can pay any fines EMA may impose.”
Veritas noted that absence of enforcement as well as corruption could be the reason why there is continued depletion of wetlands.
“Perhaps the most serious defect lies in the lack of monitoring and enforcement. Whether through corruption or fear of political reprisals, law enforcement agents at national and local levels allow wetlands to be seized and developed, and do not take action until irreparable damage has been done to the environment,” said Veritas.
Government, according to Veritas, has lost its grip on land barons who are behaving as vigilantes above the law.
“The government has lost control of so-called “land barons” – influential individuals and corporate bodies that have seized public land including wetlands to carry out residential, commercial and industrial developments without regard to the law or the impact on the environment. These developments are usually regularised in retrospect.
Harare, the capital has seen many housing developments in wetlands. These developments have taken place in Belvedere, Mbare, Budiriro, Prospect Park, Tafara, Westlea, Southlea, Mazowe, Gwebi, and Marimba among others,” said Veritas.
Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Wetlands Day held every February 2nd. This year’s commemorations ran under the theme, “Wetlands’ Action for people and nature.”
During the commemorations, EMA environmental education and publicity manager, Amkela Sidange alluded to the fact that the agency has over the past few years flexed its muscle In order to curb illegal activities on wetlands.
As from around 2015-21, we have actually rejected about 38 projects on site, meaning those were projects that were proposed for implementation in wetlands and for those that were ticketed, precisely I can say about 33 tickets were issued for various offences concerning wetlands and their management across the country,” she said.
