EMA Halts Controversial Housing Project on Borrowdale Wetland
Marshall Bwanya
Harare—The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) rapidly intervened to halt a potentially devastating housing development on a crucial wetland in Greystone Park in Borrowdale, Harare.
Local residents raised alarm last Thursday when a contractor commenced excavation on the wetland, which is located along Ettington Road.
The wetland plays a vital role to preserve the Greystone Park water catchment system.
Borrowdale Residents and Ratepayers Association (BRRA), that has been closely monitoring the area contacted local authorities upon observing heavy machinery from local a construction company, Nevsun Investment, clearing the land for a new housing project.
The Harare City Council (HCC) dispatched its Borrowdale district officer to investigate the fledgling project, after which the contractor was ordered to stop work and demobilise equipment.
The Local Government ministry weighed in, noting through a statement that it was following the developments.
However, a call from someone claiming to represent the ministry of Local Government directed the officer to allow the project to proceed, saying the land was now government-owned.
Despite this, BRRA continued to escalate the matter and alerted EMA, which swiftly issued the contractor with a punitive ticket and an Environmental Protection Order (EPO).
It also stopped the project and advised the contractor to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The BRRA chairperson, Bob Mutyasira, voiced concern over the project’s potential environmental and health impacts, including harm to water sources and increased waste pollution.
Mutyasira added that residents were committed to preserving the wetland and its environmental integrity.
“Residents have expressed interest in preserving all wetlands in the ward either by fencing them off or acquiring custodianship. We already have the Greystone Park Nature Preserve that is managed and wardened by residents who have formulated a committee,” said Mutyasira.
“The preserve is supported by residents and is a shining example of the free blossoming of nature and residents go there to watch birds and reptiles living in a natural environment.
“This is what we would want to do with all wetlands and waterways as only low impact activities are permissible on them,” added Mutyasira.
The EMA spokesperson, Amkela Sidange, confirmed that the housing project had been halted due to its violation of environmental laws.
“The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has rejected the implementation of a housing development project in Greystone Park in Borrowdale, Harare, on the basis of the project being implemented in a wetland area.
“(EMA) promptly reacted to this obviously environmentally illegal activity by issuing a ticket and an Environmental Protection Order (EPO) to the proponent to cease operations immediately, and to initiate the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.
“The proponent has since submitted a prospectus for the proposed project which the Agency has, outright, rejected on the basis that the area is a wetland and the project is likely to result in irreversible ecological impacts with a high likelihood to also hugely impact on the socio-economic landscape,” said Sidange.
She reminded planning authorities that the spatial distribution of wetlands in Zimbabwe was guided by the National Wetlands Masterplan of 2021 that must be adhered to when implementing projects.
The Zimbabwe Wetlands Trust (ZWT) programmes manager, Celestine Chari, hailed the stoppage of the project, saying the intervention demonstrated effective coordination between relevant authorities that include EMA, the capital’s municipality and Local Government through its spatial planning department.
Chari applauded the government for coming up with the wetlands policy that provided guidelines on wetland management and also gazetted these near-surface water sources.
He, however, lamented weak laws relating to the preservation of wetlands, while noting that citizens were often excluded from EIA processes.
“There is a need to review the EIA process so that citizens can fully participate in the process in terms of their approvals. So, there must be a co-existence between local authorities, central government and the citizens.
They must all have access to information in terms of pollution levels and ecosystem managemen,” added Chari.
Unverified reports suggest the HCC may have improperly allocated land on the wetland to the developer.
Samuel Nyabeza, HCC’s acting director of planning, denied any wrongdoing, referring enquiries to the Local Government ministry.
A BRRA delegation on Monday met with the minister of Local Government, Daniel Garwe, who assured them that investigations were underway and promised that no development would proceed on ecologically sensitive sites.
BRRA has organised a petition calling for government action to safeguard the area, with further updates expected as authorities probe the contentious development.