Chitungwiza Municipality has been fined $24 000 by the Environmental Management Agency for issuing stands to home seekers on wetlands in the town’s Ward 12, New Zimbabwe reports.
This was revealed by EMA spokesperson Adkins Mudii who said;
Chitungwiza Town Municipality was fined RTGS 24 000 as prescribed by SI 7 of 2007, which talks about ecosystem protection.
An order to stop all the constructions on the wetland was served to the council until an ecological assessment has been done and until a prospectus has been submitted to EMA
The order has been given to the council to stop construction. Failure to do that, a docket will be opened
Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST)reportedly hailed the move by EMA as they said wetlands must be preserved:
We applaud EMA’s efforts to issue an order to cease all construction operations on endangered wetlands in ward 12. Stopping the construction of illegal structures is a positive stride in the noble fight to preserve our wetlands
Wetlands are very important in communities as they can help in filtering pollution and act as a wind or storm buffer.
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