Harare City Council was on Tuesday hauled before the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and fined $5 000 after being found guilty of littering, failing to collect waste on time and discharging toxic waste and pollutants into the environment and water bodies.
By Sofia Mapuranga
Council was also ordered to act responsibly and guarantee the safety and health of citizens.
Harare pleaded guilty to three of the six counts it faced, which included littering and the proliferation of solid waste dumps and failure to collect refuse on time.
But council refuted three other charges, which included discharging toxic waste into the environment and water bodies, failure to license sand and clay abstraction and the issuance of development permits on wetlands.
While handing out the sentence to the local authority, EMA chairperson, Zenzo Nsimbi ordered Harare City Council to immediately improve the management mechanism of the Pomona dumpsite by compacting the site every fortnight as a strategy of managing disease outbreaks.
“Council is ordered to erect or instal a barrier around the perimeter fence into the decommissioning and after-care stages of the site,” he said
Nsimbi ordered council to ensure the availability of bins and waste receptacles based on Harare’s population density.
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“The sentence that we are imposing is not punitive, but rehabilitative. The City of Harare is ordered to enforce by-laws against littering and ensure compliance by putting in place a municipal police unit to enforce the laws,” he said, adding that EMA would inspect and police littering to ensure compliance.
In sentencing Harare City Council, EMA noted the local authority’s plea, where it argued that the majority of its residents were defaulters, who owed council millions of dollars.
Nsimbi also commended the local authority for increasing the number of bins in the city from 262 in mid-March 2016 to 452.
Council was also ordered to ensure a regular collection cycle of solid waste in all areas within its jurisdiction, clear all illegal dumpsites and implement mechanisms that ensure that they do not resurface, and enforce by-laws against littering.
The city fathers were also compelled to submit a comprehensive plan to EMA within a month on how they intend to tackle effluent and sewer discharge problems including plans for its expansion.
Regarding the charge of issuing development permits in wetlands, EMA deferred judgment on the basis that the matter was pending at the Administrative Court.
EMA also compelled Harare City Council to prepare and submit a Local Environmental Action Plan as required by section 95 of the Environmental Management Act.
Harare City Council will appear before the EMA board on February 7 next year.
Several officials including Harare City Council’s director of works, Phillip Pfukwa, represented the council at the hearing.
