Mining without EIA report illegal – Chitando
Mines and Mining Development Minister Honourable Winston Chitando said mining without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is illegal.
By Shantel T Chisango
Addressing members of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) at the Rainbow Towers last week, Chitando said the government last year introduced the principle of orderly mining so that all mining takes place in observance of the law.
“All mining activities should operate in an orderly manner which comprises of the observing the EIA assessment, observing the laws of the country. Mining without EIA is illegal,” said Chitando.
The Minister added that there is great importance in observing the environmental provision, the provision of the Mine sand Minerals Act and all other legislation when conducting mining.
Furthermore, he stated that the government is working on harmonizing Rural District Council (RDC) charges.
“RDC charges are very little, some charge too much, so as the government we would want to make sure that there is the harmonization of the charges,” said the minister.
The purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure is to generate information on the environmental impacts of a project, facilitate the consideration of environmental issues in planning and decision-making processes, and give the public and other stakeholders opportunities to participate in and affect these processes.
An EIA must be conducted for all mining projects that may have significant adverse environmental impacts. The EIA procedure has two main phases, resulting in the publication of an EIA programme and an EIA report. The EIA procedure is defined by the law.