By Majirata Latela
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Tourism and Land Cluster this week welcomed the report on the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2021.
The regulations were tabled before the National Assembly by the tourism, environment and culture minister, Ntlhoi Motsamai, who suggested the regulations were meant to ensure decision-making on projects is well-informed.
The reading of the regulations was part of enforcing the legislation Environment Act 2008. The regulations were read on September 15.
After such tabling, the committee indicated members were aware of the objectives of the regulations.
“We are aware that the regulations are intended to ensure that development activities consider the inter-independence between the biophysical environment and the social environment in their formulation and also implementation and decommissioning stages.
“Also we are aware that the Regulations cover the following areas; fostering sustainable development ideals in socio-economic development policies, programmes and the potential negative and positive impacts of the project on the biophysical and social environments. They ensure that they are assessed well ahead of approval and that necessary mitigation measures are taken.
“it is a development of collective decision-making in order to avoid conflict of mandates among line ministries and private sector in implementation of national development programmes. They address policy conflicts on both the biophysical and social environments and human health,
“They instil appropriate ethics among EIA consultants so that investment in Lesotho flourishes. They allow for preparation and approval of the project brief and application by environmental assessments practitioners to conduct environmental assessments. Participation of affected and interested parties including both private and public sectors also features,” Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Kimetso Mathaba, said.
He added that the regulations further covered the decisions of the director and management of the EIA process and strategic environmental impact assessment of policies, programmes and plans.
He said the ministry has also suggested that if adopted by parliament, the regulations have the potential of enhancing economic activity by generating revenue. It will be used to address the rampant environmental degradation emanating from development projects. He described the regulations as potential to stimulate investment as the world now supports environmentally conscious development.
“These Regulations attempt to ensure that all policies entrench environmental considerations from formulation to implementation and enforces the following areas; social and economic dimension, sustainable management of natural resources and public involvement in decision-making.
“The Regulations impose financial charges in the form of service fees and charges to proponents of the projects,” Mathaba explained.
The National Environment Secretariat last year reacted to suggestions that it took too long for issuing of EIA clearance certificates. It urged for patience from the companies as it is illegal to operate without the certificates.
Such works, kit warned, carried out without such documents would halted.
An EIA is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.
According to the Environmental Act of 2008, the courts may order that any licence permit or other authorisation given under the Act and to which the offence relates be cancelled. The Act also stipulates that if the permit is not cancelled, the court may also issue an environmental restoration order against the accused.
The Act shows that every person living in Lesotho has a right to scenic, clean and healthy environment and has a duty to protect and also inform the NES of all activities that are prone to affect the environment.
Moreover, every person may, where the right referred to is threatened as a result of an activity or omission which is causing or likely to cause harm to human health or environment, bring action against the person whose activity or omission is causing or is likely to cause harm to human health or the environment.
NES, through senior environment officer, ‘Mammeli Makhate, has observed that all projects that are subject to clearance are listed in the Environmental Act First Schedule. Therefore, it is mandatory for them to get an EIA clearance certificate before commencement of any operations.
“The implications of someone not doing a clearance certificate amount to the owner of the project being sued. Again if we receive a tip off that someone has commenced a project without being cleared, we may start investigations to get reasons why an EIA was not done or why a clearance certificate was not issued.
“In a case where there are compelling and convincing reasons why an EIA was not done, we may suspend or stop the project works without cancelling the license, and allow the person to follow on right path to obtain a clearance certificate before resuming.
“Yes, there have been cases where people start a development project without the EIA and we have made them aware that it is compulsory to obtain a certificate,” Makhate said.
She said the process of obtaining a clearance certificate takes less than two months depending on the kind of report the company or consultant will have provided to the secretariat.
