Blessing Nduku
In a decisive move to uphold its commitment to environmental protection, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has rejected the implementation of a housing development in Greystone Park by Greystone Housing Development (GHD) citing non-compliance with stringent ecological standards.
In a statement, EMA Environmental Education and Publicity Manager Amkela Sidange confirmed the rejection stating that the housing project has started without environmental licences and that it is implemented in a wetland area.
“EMA has rejected the implementation of a housing development project in Greystone Park in Borrowdale, Harare based on the project being implemented in a wetland area.
This followed the commencement of a housing development project without the necessary environmental licenses in a clear wetland with obviously black clay soils and other undoubtedly ecological indicators of a wetland area.”
“The agency promptly reacted to this environmentally illegal activity by issuing a ticket and an Environmental Protection Order (EPO) to the proponent to cease operations immediately and to initiate the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process.”
Sidange went on to emphasize on the allocation of land to ensure that due diligence is done to avoid developing wetlands.
“To the end, the Agency is on record continuously calling upon planning authorities and would-be developers to exercise due diligence in land allocation and land use planning so as not to interfere with fragile ecosystems or areas of ecological importance.”
“In the case of wetlands, the Agency would like to remind the planning authorities that the spatial distribution of wetlands in Zimbabwe has been identified through the National Wetlands Masterplan (2021) and wetland pieces in individual local authorities have been mapped and presented as specific wetland maps for those areas.”
Section 113 of the Environmental Management Act (CAP 20:27) states that certain pieces of wetlands were gazetted as Ecological Sensitive Areas and an estimated area of 258 780.99 hectares was recognized as wetlands.
However, EMA’s decision underscores the agency’s commitment to balancing economic development with environmental protection.
