Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has completed developing model by-laws that will help local authorities to deal with challenges relating to pollution and littering in their respective areas.

The agency’s principal environmental officer, Mrs Precious Magwaza, said most local authorities were using outdated by-laws, making it difficult to enforce environmental laws. She made the remarks during a recent stakeholders’ consultation meeting to draft the country’s Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDs), which is being spearheaded by the Department of Climate Management.

Mrs Magwaza said they drafted model by-laws which local authorities may use to manage and enforce environmental-related programmes.

“In 2011, we carried out a baseline study together with the University of Zimbabwe, where it was established that as a country we are generating about 1,6 million tonnes of waste annually,” she said. “After this, we developed an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan in 2014.

“Generally, this plan talks to the need to reduce what we generate and re-use what we can and recycle. It was developed in consultation with all the stakeholders, including local authorities. We are hoping to implement it, though we have faced challenges, mostly because of traditional approaches, where we are generating litter for disposal and recycling initiatives are currently very low in the country. We also have issues to do with the attitude of the people and some law enforcement glitches being raised by local authorities concerning legislation considering that, as EMA, we have local authorities and municipal police to help enforce the laws.”

Mrs Magwaza said the trivialisation of environmental issues was another challenge for EMA and other actors in implementing the integrated solid waste management plan.

She said the incapacitation of local authorities was affecting environmental management programmes, especially on funding.

“We are saying let us identify mechanisms of funding and harness resources to support the activities,” said Mrs Magwaza. “As EMA, we are saying it shouldn’t be about local authorities only managing the waste.

“The magnitude of the problem has gone beyond them and it’s complicated if we take into account population growth, consumption levels, among other factors. That’s why we are saying we need an integrated approach and everyone to come on board.

“This is everyone’s responsibility and you will notice that as EMA we have upgraded from our previous motto ‘EMA protecting the environment” to ‘Together protecting the environment’. We appreciate the complexities around managing the environment.”

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