ZELA working with Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment

The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association accompanied the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines, Energy, Environment and Tourism on a community outreach programme from the 3^rd – 5^th of May 2006. ZELA is implementing the Legislative Environmental Monitoring Project whose objective is to encourage legislators to represent the environmental and natural resources interests of their constituencies to assist them to be more transparent and accountable to the people they represent.

ZELA is monitoring the 1^st session of the 6^th Parliament (March 2005- June 2006). The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee that went on the outreach programme was made up of members of the lower house (house of assembly) and the upper house (senators). The objectives of the outreach programme were among others to; assess the developments taking place in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, to assess the projects being undertaken by the Rural Electrification Agency in the Conservancies to supply power to some lodges, to hear about the challenges being faced by the Kwekwe Gold Roasting plant and its environmental impacts, to assess the damage being caused by the illegal gold panning activities in the Boterekwa area of Shurugwi and to get an insight into the production of biodiesel from jatropha plant.

ZELA accompanied the committee members on the tour and also attended the feed back meeting that was held at Parliament the following week. The key observation made by ZELA is that the Committee is concerned by the illegal gold panning and the impacts it is having on the environment and the economy. However, the committee is also aware that illegal gold panning can not be wished away as it is a manifestation of Zimbabwe’s economic problems. As such it made recommendations for government to put in place institutional structures with the input of the gold panners, so that it can be done in a regulated way that is sustainable both to the economy and the environment. All stakeholders have to work together to find solutions to this problem. The aim should be to regulate by monitoring and not to ban gold panning outrightly.

The Committee and ZELA also passed through the Chitsa community which occupied parts of the Gonarezhou national park at the height of the land reform programme. The Gonarezhou forms part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a conservation initiative involving Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The committee recommended that the Chitsa community be removed from the park and relocated to another place by August as recommended by the stakeholders who include the national parks, private sector and Non Governmental Organisations. The Committee did not have an opportunity to interview the community to get their perspective on this proposed relocation. Its recommendations would have been greatly enhanced had they met the Chitsa community to hear their views on the proposed relocation.

Further, the Committee was not happy with the pace at which developments are taking place in Gonarezhou. The GLPT is being touted as one the biggest tourist attractions during the 2010 World Cup final which will be hosted by South Africa. However, the committee felt that Zimbabwe will lose out on the tourism potential. This assessment is based on the poor infrastructure that exists on the Zimbabwean side of the park. For example, the roads are poor and become inaccessible during the rain season, the electrification process is very slow and some of the bridges that were destroyed in 2000 are yet to be repaired. The committee resolved to seek audience with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to get an explanation on the slow pace of implementation.

In this project, the objective of ZELA is to observe how the Committee performs its functions and if requested advice the Committee on legal issues. For ZELA, the trip was an eye opener into the way the Committee works and how the legislators are representing the environmental interests of their constituencies.