21 Sep 2014

North West District (NWD) councillors have been urged to sensitize their respective communities about the importance of conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exercise before implementing any development.

Department of Environmental Affairs coordinator (DEA), Ms Belda Mosepele made the appeal when briefing the council about the role of her department and the importance of complying with the Environment Assessment Act.

Ms Mosepele said her department had realised that many projects were carried out heedless of EIA whose purpose is to ensure that decision makers consider the environmental impacts when deciding whether or not to proceed with a project.

“I urge you to be our eyes and report people who contravene the act. We do not have enough resources such as transport and personnel to monitor the whole district to ensure compliance,” she added.

Any project that was undertaken with disregard for the said procedure will be lawfully stopped, she said, inviting the public to visit her department for clarification before they could on any project, be it a house or a bigger project. 

Ms Mosepele explained that EIA was an assessment of the possible impacts that a proposed project might have on the environment and it consists of the environmental, social and economic aspects.

She said DEA’s mandate was to ensure the protection of the environment and the conservation of natural resources by formulating, coordinating and monitoring the implementation of national environmental policies, programmes and legislation. 

She also raised a concern about illegal dumping of waste, calling on the public to become custodians of their environment noting that they should be the eyes for all and also report any unacceptable behavior that is detrimental to the environment.

Councillors welcomed the presentation and requested the coordinator to explain as to which departments were entitled to comply with the act, particularly considering that some ministries had undertaken big project that compromised environmental standards. 

“For instance, the construction of the new Thamalakane Bridge continued despite the fact that DEA was against the method used because it was not environmentally friendly,” probed Cllr Galaletsang Mhapa.

Another example by Cllr Motlamedi Moqwa of Gumare North made reference to what measures were in place to deal with people who contravened the act. 

The legislator said, because Gumare Infrastructure project was constructed without due regard for EIA, many homes have been adversely affected today and the residents are complaining.

Cllr Kebadireditse Ntsogotlho of Khwai/Savuti said the EIA procedures were very expensive; hence many ordinary Batswana were failing to comply. He requested the department to review the process and see how best they could assist the community for compliance. ENDS