Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Irene Chipili
The Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) says it in 2017 considered a total of 774 projects covering all sectors of development across the country with an estimated investment cost of US$12,954,073,182.
ZEMA Corporate Affairs Manager Irene Chipili has confirmed to Q news that of the considered 774 projects, 738 were approved, four were deferred pending submission of additional information from affected Developers and 32 were rejected.
Ms Chipili has disclosed that urban development and the energy sectors had the highest number of projects considered which were done in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Management Act No. 12 of 2011 (EMA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 28 of 1997.
She has further announced that a total of 38 EIA reports were considered in December, 2017 with an estimated investment of US$275, 715, 006.
Ms Chipili has since stated that all projects are approved subject to specific conditions within a given timeframe and can be withdrawn without notice where a Developer fails to comply with prescribed conditions and commitments made in the EIA report.