Mepa faulted on environmental audits

The Movement for Environmental Action has faulted the Malawi Environmental Protection Authority (Mepa) for failing to undertake frequent environmental audits as part of protecting the environment and human life.

But Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change Michael Usi has backed the authority, arguing that it conducts routine and adhoc inspections of companies and sites. He adds that action is taken when an issue is within its mandate.

The movement co-chairperson Mathews Malata’s sentiments on Friday follow a Nation on Sunday investigation which established that a factory built at Mapanga residential area is emitting pungent byproducts.

The Chinese-owned factory opened its doors in the residential area in 2017.

Malata said the Mapanga tale shows weakness in enforcement of environmental protection and public health.

He said: “In an ideal setup, they would have an environmental management plan, which is probably not the case here. This reveals our deep shortcomings in carrying out environmental audits and monitoring and other law enforcement exercises. Mepa and the council ought to have been handling this.”

The environmental activist said such chaos would have been avoided had the authority cracked its whip on factories and other institutions that act in contrast with the Environmental Management Act.

Malata said it is unfortunate that such problems keep popping up, further blaming the government for allegedly becoming overwhelmed and losing focus on environmental governance.

Regarding the Mapanga factory issue, he said there are several threats the environment and humans may be exposed to, some of which are fatal.

He said environmental damage should be abated by instructing the factory to clean up immediately, be fined and legal action taken against its directors while residents begin court proceedings and demand compensation.

Malata also called upon the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) to probe the matter.

MHRC executive secretary Habiba Osman said in an interview yesterday that in principle, this is an area of investigation.

She said: “If this is really happening, the commission can indeed investigate how this is impacting the rights of people in the area.”

But in a written response on Friday, Usi said Mepa intends to intensify inspections in its 2024/25 financial year on a monthly basis.

He said: “Funds permitting, the frequency and number of entities to be inspected will double. A long-term plan is to recruit more staff so that all areas have responsible personnel to follow up on issues closely.”

Usi further said the authority is also working with other regulators to improve inspection within their sectoral mandates.

According to the minister, residents can utilise Mepa’s 5153 toll-free number to report any environmental incidents and malpractices for prompt action.

However, he said in some instances, people develop areas without submitting plans, stressing that in such scenarios, the city councils have a mandate to take action.

Furthermore, Usi observed that operations in undesignated areas are difficult to identify, especially if residents are not proactive in alerting Mepa.

Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda could not be reached yesterday.

An August 2023 Afrobarometer survey stated that 88 percent of Malawians feel government should do more to limit pollution and protect the environment.

According to the survey, 40 percent of Malawians felt the ordinary citizens have the primary responsibility of reducing pollution and keeping the community clean.

The findings read: “Others assign this task primarily to the national government [26 percent] or to traditional leaders [21 percent].”

It further said more than two-thirds (69 percent) of Malawians perceive pollution as a somewhat serious, or a very serious problem in their community.