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Publicise environmental law for effective compliance -call
2006-01-15 07:59:03
By Joyce Mkinga, Bagamoyo
Proper compliance and enforcement of the legislation on environmental management cannot be attained unless environmental stakeholders are made aware of the existence of the said law.
The Permanent Secretary in the Vice President Office, Mary Mushi said here earlier during the week that all stakeholders in environment and the general public must be aware of the Environmental Management Act (2004) for an effective implementation.
’’It is imperative that all stakeholders are made aware of the Act and its requirement and its legal implication to the general public,’’ she said.
In her speech read on her behalf by the Director of Environmental Protection in the Vice President’s Office, Eric Mugurusi at the official opening of the training workshop on Practical Environmental Management for Effective Prevention, Enforcement and Compliance she said that the Environmental Management Act was enacted to provide legal framework for sustainable management of the environment.
She said the law outlines principles for management, impact and risk assessments, prevention and control, waste management environment quality standards, public participation, compliance and enforcement.
It was also enacted to provide basis for the implementation of international instruments on environment and above all to provide for the implementation of the National Environmental Policy of 1997.
Mushi said the public needs to be educated on the law and key actors need to understand the implementation principles and tools applicable for environmental compliance and enforcement.
The Director General of the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), Bonventure Baya said the training aimed at enhancing capacity of the regulatory institutions with the view to developing and applying the essential regulatory tools commonly applicable in compliance and enforcement practices.
He said the training is designed to equip participants with necessary skills on compliance and enforcement skills and knowledge.
Baya added: ’’Given the powers within the Environmental Management Act, it was vital that NEMC in collaboration with partners and relevant ministries develop agree and adhere to an enforcement strategy.
The strategy entails a systematic, logical and scientific approach to conducting compliance and enforcement activities.’’
He said effective enforcement is a tool to achieve preventive and deterrence rather than punishment and added that it requires administrative measures, effective inspection, pre-criminal proceedings and an efficient prosecution system, all of which are geared toward reducing litigation in court and achieving desirable environmental solutions.
’’These measures should be further enhanced by more active public participation in environmental management,’’ he said.
The workshop that brought together environmental stakeholders from NEMC, Lower Kihansi Environmental Management Project, Districts Environmental Officers, government institutions and other stakeholders are supposed to come up with a framework for compliance and enforcement tools relevant for Tanzania.
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