By Leah Malimbasa
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Fatch Mbilizi says the government will enforce waste management laws against Presscane Limited following revelations of poor raw effluent disposal at the company’s ethanol production facility in Chikwawa District.
Mbilizi made the remarks on Monday during a visit she undertook with Minister of Natural Resources, Alfred Gangata after a joint inspection by the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) and Malawi Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA).
“As government we will use waste management laws. Raw effluent management here is very poor and it is affecting crops, the environment and even people’s health,” said Mbilizi.
She added that Presscane Limited failed to address concerns raised by regulators during earlier inspections.
“Presscane Limited did not address the issues that NRWA and MEPA raised after their joint supervision so we will now apply the law.” said the Minister.
She assured surrounding communities that the government has taken over the matter and will ensure it is resolved.MEPA’s Environment, Information and Education Manager, Aubren Chirwa told Malawi News Agency (MANA) that the company has committed multiple violations under the Environmental Management Act.
“According to the Environmental Management Act, the company is making many violations. Waste is not supposed to end up in people’s homesteads,” said Chirwa.
He added that Presscane will be fined for some of the violations, while others will be decided after consultations with the Ministry of Natural Resources and NWRA, noting that it is premature to state whether the company’s licence will be revoked.
Speaking in an interview, Presscane Limited Chief Executive Officer, Bryson Mkhomaanthu said one of their ponds burst following heavy rains on Tuesday last week but Presscane moved in quickly with their equipment to stop leakage and mitigate the effects.
“We also cleaned up houses which were affected,” he said adding that that they will follow procedures on issues of compensation.
