News / National
Govt targets Traditional leaders for illegal parceling wetlands to citizens
12 Apr 2017 at 07:13hrs | Views
Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Oppah Muchinguri has warned that the government will take stringent measures to arrest the traditional leaders who illegally parcel out wetlands to the people with a levy or fine of $1000 to be charged on the offenders.
She said members who have contributed to this very important motion and have supported the ratification of the Paris Agreement.
"Let me respond to some fundamental issues that were raised and I will start with Hon. Maridadi. I want to thank him for supporting the motion which is aimed at ratifying the Paris Agreement. Of course, he raises some fundamental issues to do with our wetlands in Zimbabwe which fall under EMA which has the sole responsibility to register all wetlands in Zimbabwe," she said.
"I want to state that EMA came into existence when quite a number of these wetlands were sold to various house owners and we did not have much to do because this was a situation which prevailed before EMA came into inception. I want to state that we have been alert to the situation whereby we have been carrying out inspections with Local Government authorities to ensure that for those that were already constructing either houses or buildings, they adhered to our expectations within EMA. We will continue arresting those people that do not adhere to our expectations. We have had in the rural areas some traditional leaders who have been parceling out these pieces of land."
She said she want to say that it is illegal and they have been taking measures which call for an offence or a levy of $1 000.
"So, we are doing everything possible to make sure that we protect our wetlands.
The second issue which he raised was the issue of cleanliness within the City of Harare. It is not just Harare which is affected by the issue of litter. The issue of litter is of concern to my Ministry but I want to say that we do have the climate change policy and also the climate change response policy. These two pieces of legislation outline what is expected of local authorities. It is not just EMA which has that responsibility. This is an agency which provides the regulatory framework to ensure that constitutionally, we enjoy a clean environment which translate in us breathing clean air and also have clean water," she said.
"Therefore, the policies that I have indicated require that climate change is also mainstreamed whether by Local Government authorities to make sure that their cities are clean. It is our responsibility to ensure that these policies are adhered to. We will arrest where possible with the assistance of the police. So, where we catch people indulging in throwing litter everywhere, we work very closely with the police and it calls for $20 fine for individuals who throw away litter either through moving vehicles like buses and cars. We are not very happy about the progress in this area because we have our buses going to South Africa."
Muchinguri said those passengers that board these buses throw litter from Harare right up to the border but when they reach South Africa, they change their behavour and they do not throw away litter.
"We are trying as much as possible to ensure that these fines are deterrent enough, but this is not a responsibility for EMA alone, but also the cities because they have got that responsibility to ensure that they keep their cities clean. We have also fined even the City of Harare for not providing a clean environment for their citizens within Harare. We have found them on several occasions but they continue with that behavior and we are looking at the possibility of even increasing those fines. So, we may end up bringing Bills to this august House," she said.
"The third issue which he raises is the issue of us providing electricity in order to ensure that the issue of desertification or the cutting down of trees is curtailed. On electricity, last year we witnessed that Kariba Dam was not producing the 700 megawatts which originally was the target which was set when it was constructed. We noticed that the generation of power had been reduced to about 290 megawatts. It shows that climate change is real to Zimbabwe. We cannot rely anymore on hydro-electricity, which is why Zimbabwe adopted the strategies of resorting to renewable energy which is solar and bio-gas. We are still using thermal power from coal, but we know that most of the gas emissions come from the generation of thermal power."
She said she can understand why Obama had to ban the use of coal within the United States which was reversed by Donald Trump.
"I am saying also that thermal power to us in Zimbabwe is still our policy. We should continue producing thermal power because developed countries have industrialised their own countries because they used coal as a means of driving their own industries. So, we are not going to be banning that. I am happy that even Trump in his craziest way was able to reverse this because the world still needs thermal power and it is much cheaper to use thermal power and also to use thermal power and so, my Hon. Member must appreciate that we are doing everything possible to ensure we address the issue of electricity deficit," she said.
"Let me also address the issue of tree planting to say that since 1980, the country, through our President, introduced the tree planting programme which is an annual event. It is in that realisation that in order for us to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and also for us to create the carbon sink, it is possible to plant as many trees as possible because each individual requires five trees the whole year to be able to get enough oxygen and also for these trees to be able to accommodate carbon dioxide. So, we are very mindful of that, that is why we have a very ambitious programme."
Muchinguri said turning now to the issue of the tobacco farmers who use firewood in order to cure tobacco, she was sure people appreciate that Government put in place a levy which therefore, has been used by TIMB.
"I understand this is a new development that they should ensure that those tobacco farmers replant or plant more trees to replace those trees that they are destroying. In our climate change policy, we are encouraging the new usage of bio gas equipment and solar in the curing of tobacco. So, we hope that in the future, we will be able - over and above these mitigation programmes, to reduce the cutting of trees," she said.
"We all know that the suffering that we are incurring is a result of the very aggressive industrialisation programmes, where a lot of this coal usage went into place in order to create jobs and grow the economies of the developed countries, but I want to say that the difference between the Kyoto Protocol is that most developed countries were upbeat and till this day, they are not signatory to the Kyoto Agreement because that was really forceful where developing countries were saying, developed countries, you are responsible for these climate change problems and that you should pay for it, but we saw, in the Paris Agreement, that there was a strong principle of common objectives, but also looking at the different developmental issues that affected each country."
She said members who have contributed to this very important motion and have supported the ratification of the Paris Agreement.
"Let me respond to some fundamental issues that were raised and I will start with Hon. Maridadi. I want to thank him for supporting the motion which is aimed at ratifying the Paris Agreement. Of course, he raises some fundamental issues to do with our wetlands in Zimbabwe which fall under EMA which has the sole responsibility to register all wetlands in Zimbabwe," she said.
"I want to state that EMA came into existence when quite a number of these wetlands were sold to various house owners and we did not have much to do because this was a situation which prevailed before EMA came into inception. I want to state that we have been alert to the situation whereby we have been carrying out inspections with Local Government authorities to ensure that for those that were already constructing either houses or buildings, they adhered to our expectations within EMA. We will continue arresting those people that do not adhere to our expectations. We have had in the rural areas some traditional leaders who have been parceling out these pieces of land."
She said she want to say that it is illegal and they have been taking measures which call for an offence or a levy of $1 000.
"So, we are doing everything possible to make sure that we protect our wetlands.
The second issue which he raised was the issue of cleanliness within the City of Harare. It is not just Harare which is affected by the issue of litter. The issue of litter is of concern to my Ministry but I want to say that we do have the climate change policy and also the climate change response policy. These two pieces of legislation outline what is expected of local authorities. It is not just EMA which has that responsibility. This is an agency which provides the regulatory framework to ensure that constitutionally, we enjoy a clean environment which translate in us breathing clean air and also have clean water," she said.
"Therefore, the policies that I have indicated require that climate change is also mainstreamed whether by Local Government authorities to make sure that their cities are clean. It is our responsibility to ensure that these policies are adhered to. We will arrest where possible with the assistance of the police. So, where we catch people indulging in throwing litter everywhere, we work very closely with the police and it calls for $20 fine for individuals who throw away litter either through moving vehicles like buses and cars. We are not very happy about the progress in this area because we have our buses going to South Africa."
Muchinguri said those passengers that board these buses throw litter from Harare right up to the border but when they reach South Africa, they change their behavour and they do not throw away litter.
"We are trying as much as possible to ensure that these fines are deterrent enough, but this is not a responsibility for EMA alone, but also the cities because they have got that responsibility to ensure that they keep their cities clean. We have also fined even the City of Harare for not providing a clean environment for their citizens within Harare. We have found them on several occasions but they continue with that behavior and we are looking at the possibility of even increasing those fines. So, we may end up bringing Bills to this august House," she said.
She said she can understand why Obama had to ban the use of coal within the United States which was reversed by Donald Trump.
"I am saying also that thermal power to us in Zimbabwe is still our policy. We should continue producing thermal power because developed countries have industrialised their own countries because they used coal as a means of driving their own industries. So, we are not going to be banning that. I am happy that even Trump in his craziest way was able to reverse this because the world still needs thermal power and it is much cheaper to use thermal power and also to use thermal power and so, my Hon. Member must appreciate that we are doing everything possible to ensure we address the issue of electricity deficit," she said.
"Let me also address the issue of tree planting to say that since 1980, the country, through our President, introduced the tree planting programme which is an annual event. It is in that realisation that in order for us to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and also for us to create the carbon sink, it is possible to plant as many trees as possible because each individual requires five trees the whole year to be able to get enough oxygen and also for these trees to be able to accommodate carbon dioxide. So, we are very mindful of that, that is why we have a very ambitious programme."
Muchinguri said turning now to the issue of the tobacco farmers who use firewood in order to cure tobacco, she was sure people appreciate that Government put in place a levy which therefore, has been used by TIMB.
"I understand this is a new development that they should ensure that those tobacco farmers replant or plant more trees to replace those trees that they are destroying. In our climate change policy, we are encouraging the new usage of bio gas equipment and solar in the curing of tobacco. So, we hope that in the future, we will be able - over and above these mitigation programmes, to reduce the cutting of trees," she said.
"We all know that the suffering that we are incurring is a result of the very aggressive industrialisation programmes, where a lot of this coal usage went into place in order to create jobs and grow the economies of the developed countries, but I want to say that the difference between the Kyoto Protocol is that most developed countries were upbeat and till this day, they are not signatory to the Kyoto Agreement because that was really forceful where developing countries were saying, developed countries, you are responsible for these climate change problems and that you should pay for it, but we saw, in the Paris Agreement, that there was a strong principle of common objectives, but also looking at the different developmental issues that affected each country."
Source - Byo24News
