AfricaPress-Tanzania: SOME 151 out of 481 applicants were last year granted permits of approved disposal of hazardous waste last year, the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), the Director General, Dr Samuel Gwamaka said in Dar es Salaam.
He said the disposal of hazardous waste is a global problem, explaining in the past half a decade NEMC has remained vigilant on disposal of such waste in order to protect Tanzania’s environment.
Hazardous waste that gets into environment, he explained, has long-lasting harmful effects on the lives of people and other living organisms. Expert considerations have to be exhausted before granting permit on disposal of hazardous waste.
“We must always bear in mind the fact that Tanzania belongs to the present and future generations, so is its environment. We are the ones with the duty to protect Tanzania’s environment for the good of this and coming generations.
“We have to ensure hazardous waste is disposed in the most appropriate way and does not find its way into environment,” he explained. Therefore, he explained, 151 out of 481 applications have been granted,” he said.
The DG said NEMC verified and supervised disposal of 2,493 tonnes and 2,480 litres of hazardous waste that included expired chemicals and pharmaceuticals. He also said 15,000 inspections were made on facilities that have environment impact assessment certificates.
He said in the past five years, NEMC has monitored constantly performances of seven large scale mining projects with the aim of preventing and mitigating incidences of pollution.
Dr Gwamaka said the 7,000 projects were registered with the council for environment impact assessment in the last five years, explaining that 3500 projects were issued with environmental certificates.
“Last year alone 631 small scale miners, mostly in gold mining were registered. These included miners with primary mining licences, gold leaching plants elution plants,” he explained.
He told journalists that the council attended to 4,567 public complaints and concerns related with environmental pollution of air, water and land resources.
