The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere recently in Chisumbanje
As surely as night follows day, just about every week brings a new media report concerning a controversy related to Green Fuel’s ethanol plant in Chisumbanje.
The most recent is that discharge from the plant is poisoning the environment and resulted in blindness among some within the community living around the mega ethanol business.
Recently, Environmental Management Agency director-general Mrs Mutsa Chasi told legislators in sworn testimony – that their tests showed Green Fuel was discarding into Save River undiluted effluent which is believed to be causing blindness, miscarriages and other complications.
The agency also said Green Fuel was operating outside the law because it did not have the necessary environmental impact certification.
As a result, it has been reported, Green Fuel could owes regulators as much as US$1 million in fines and unpaid levies.
Following this, The Sunday Mail Extra went to Chisumbanje to talk to villagers about the alleged Green Fuel-induced illnesses in the community. We also spoke to company officials and regulators to determine what exactly is going on.
Green Fuel admitted that it did not have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate – but only because EMA gave the go-ahead to start operations.
The firm says it did subsequently complete and submit the EIA report to EMA in 2011 and it was approved that same year.
However, the EIA certificate was not issued because EMA demanded an upfront fee of US$866 250.
The US$866 250 represents the EIA review fees at 1,5 percent of project valuation (US$55 million), a fee the ethanol producer says is too high.
Green Fuel says a payment plan was tabled and agreed on, with company authorised to start operating while paying for the certificate in instalments.
Green Fuel safety, health and environmental officer Mr Tafadzwa Chibanda said: “The EIA was completed and submitted to EMA in 2011, however, we could not get the certificate because the agency was demanding that we pay US$866 250 for them to give us the certificate.
“Unfortunately the company could not pay the entire amount because it was too high and any attempts would have hindered our operations. We then entered into a payment plan agreement with EMA and they allowed us to operate and so far over US$100 000 has been paid towards the attainment of the certificate.
“So we have not breached anything because the assessment was done and was seen to be compliant with our laws, what is only left is the actual certificate,” said Mr Chibanda.
Another senior official, who declined to be named, said it did not make sense that EMA had granted waste disposal licences for a project they were now condemning.
“The full environmental impact assessment report was submitted to EMA on the 4th of February 2011 and, in line with Section 100(1) of the Act, the director-general of EMA had 60 days to consider the report and reach a decision,” said the official.
“EMA failed to respond and therefore the project was deemed approved in line with the Act. However, please note that, as a result of the EIA being in place, Green Fuel has been issued with all relevant and up to date EMA licences supporting its operations and EMA have approved the EIA Report. These include the Effluent Disposal, Waste Management and Emissions licences.
“We would be happy to show you our licences and relevant invoices issued by EMA to prove that the allegations that we are non-compliant are completely unfounded.”
However, EMA spokesperson Mr Steady Kangata insisted that Green Fuel was operating illegally.
“According to the Environmental Act, Green Fuel is operating illegally because they do not have the EIA certificate,” he said. “We told them to stop operations in 2011 but they defied us so unless they can produce the certificate their operations are illegal.”
Mr Kangata also denied there was any payment plan in place.
“There has been no such plan, if they are saying they are compliant then they should have shown you the certificate.”
EMA boss Mrs Chasi also told parliamentarians that Green Fuel “had been illegally discharging undiluted effluent into Jerawachera River, which feeds into Muzvazvi River and eventually into Save River”.
Green Fuel, however, vehemently denied allegations that it is discarding effluent into the Middle Sabi rivers saying they have all the proof to show that they were not contaminating the environment.
Further, villagers surrounding the plant expressed complete ignorance that some of them had become blind after drinking water in which the alleged effluent is being discharged.
Several said they were benefiting from irrigation canals feeding the sugar cane plantations, and these had allowed them to grow their livestock sustainably as well as water their own fields – all with Green Fuel’s co-operation.
An official with the company alleges that political battles within Government are behind the endless efforts to shut down Green Fuel, whose ethanol is being blended with petroleum to slash Zimbabwe’s fuel import bill.
