Mozambican experts condemn gaps in studies on environmental impacts of projects

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Mozambican experts condemn gaps in studies on environmental impacts of projects

8:32 CAT | 01 Mar 2017

Mozambique has attracted a great deal of interest from foreign investors, especially in the area of mineral resources in the central and northern regions of the country, raising expectations of growth of the national economy.

But communities affected by large projects have benefited very little from them in the past.

Non-governmental organizations such as Justiça Ambiental (Environmental Justice) and Centro Terra Viva (Living Earth Centre) explain this failure as the result of deficiencies in the environmental impact assessment process.

Determination to implement these projects at any cost and non-observance of legal instruments by the government are at the source of this situation, according to environmentalist Daniel Ribeiro of Justiça Ambiental.

“The first step should be to know if the project is feasible, and only then to promise something,” he says. “The other gap has to do with the market, because the investor pays for the study, and as you can imagine, whoever pays has a lot of say over the final product.”

Justiça Ambiental says that if this scenario continues, the communities affected by projects will be damaged even more. “To continue to pollute our rivers, reducing fishing and the fertility of our soils, will have a huge impact on the health and life of Mozambicans,” the environmentalist says.

Another environmental non-governmental organization, the Terra Viva Center, argues that communities should be made aware of benefits before implementing any project.

“Most of the communities that are affected by these projects have no idea of their rights, for example. What we in Centre Terra Viva call social preparation, before projects start, is extremely important. One example of this is Palma. When the project started the people were prepared in advance, and already there has been a greater interaction and action by these people in defence of their rights and their lands,” Pereira explained.

The study of environmental impact assessment processes in Mozambique is called “For Only the Englishman to See”.

Source: Voa Portugues