EMA Cracks Down on Unlicensed Standby Generator Emissions in Harare

By Regina Pasipanodya

The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has escalated its monitoring of the Harare Metropolitan Province to enforce the emission control regulations with major causes of pollution being unlicensed standby power generators.

“Unconverted fuel like gasoline or diesel that eventually burns in the internal engines of generators is the main cause of pollution by the standby generators,” said EMA Harare Provincial Manager, Leon Mutungamiri.

Consequently, the generator users over five kilovolts-amperes (5KVA) are supposed to get the emission permit from the authority, provided that there is no such requirement for the households.

As the EMA inspection teams are carrying out the survey of the premises for meeting the requirements of Statutory Instrument 72 of 2009 under the Environmental Management Act Cap 20:27, the noxious release of air pollutants law will be tightly applied to the non-compliant businesses and institutions.

The instrument explicitly prohibits the emission of air pollutants without proper licensing. Mutungamiri is now asking the businesses to swiftly apply for the mentioned permits if they want to avoid fines.

He has also stated that the process of enforcement has already begun and those who are operating the generators that are not issued with the emissions permits will be given a penalty for non-compliance.

The fight against pollution in Zimbabwe amid the issue of rapidly growing air pollution concerns that have escalated so much that it has become a national disaster, has led the government to take the necessary steps to strengthen environmental governance.

The EMA officials are still very committed to their mission to keep the air quality of urban spaces at the highest levels and to work on the reduction of the risks caused by exhaust gases from the generators.