LUSAKA, 25th March, 2024
The Environmental Assessments Committee (EAC) of the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) Board has approved 168 projects at its 16th and 17th sittings held in January, February and early March, 2024.
In a statement today, ZEMA director Generalo Godfrey Mwiinga said the approval of the projects is in accordance with the Environmental Management Act No. 12 of 2011 (“the EMA”) as read together with the Environmental Management (Amendment) Act No. 8 of 2023 and the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 28 of 1997.
Mr. Mwiinga stated that the projects are worth a total investment cost of over Nine Hundred Million United States Dollars (US$ 985,756,537.00) which is equivalent to over Twenty-Five Billion Kwacha (25,785,094,195.
He said a total of 162 Environmental Project Briefs (EPB) were approved whilst 6 Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) were approved during the EAC sittings.
Mr. Mwiinga stated an EPB is a report prepared for a proposed project with minimal impact on the environment. An EIS is a report prepared for proposed projects anticipated to have huge environmental impacts.
He said the Agency continues to commend members of the public for participating in the Environmental Assessment Process.
Mr. Mwiinga said the environmental assessment process is participatory in nature and therefore, the decisions of the Agency are enhanced by the valuable input of the stakeholders as well as members of the general public.
And Mwiinga commended all stakeholders especially local authorities who provide feedback towards the proposed projects which aids the Agency’s decision making. This is critical to the EIA process.
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