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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is challenging an application by the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) alleging that it is failing to properly manage its sanitary landfill site popularly known as Ngozi Mine in Richmond suburb resulting in air pollution affecting residents.

EMA is seeking a court order directing the local authority to take necessary measures to properly manage the Ngozi Mine landfill waste disposal site by implementing proper fire prevention measures.

The hazardous smoke coming from the landfill is reportedly encroaching into nearby Cowdray Park and Richmond suburbs as well as Norwood area thereby putting residents’ lives at risk.

EMA said at one time in May this year, about six hectares of the landfill was on fire for 15 consecutive days. The agency said plumes of smoke stretching more than a radius of 10km were recorded with several residents complaining of major respiratory health effects after smoke inhalation.

Last month Cowdray Park residents petitioned BCC to address the landfill air pollution, saying the hazardous smoke wafting into their houses was putting their lives in danger.

The residents complained that due to the smoke from the landfill, they were developing respiratory diseases. Recent studies have shown that air pollution is linked to childhood cancers and cognitive impairment in both children and adults.

EMA, through its lawyers, Dube, Manikai and Hwacha Legal Practitioners, filed an application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking a mandatory interdict directing BCC to come up with a waste management plan in terms of the Environmental Management Act.

It cited BCC and Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube as respondents.

Last week, BCC through its lawyers Coghlan and Welsh Legal Practitioners, filed a notice of opposition seeking the dismissal of the EMA application.

In her opposing affidavit, BCC chamber secretary Mrs Sikhangele Zhou said council submitted a landfill environmental management plan (LEMP) to EMA addressing all the concerns raised by the agency in the protection order.

She said the LEMP was served on EMA on 17 June this year but the applicant took its time to respond.

“EMA took its time to respond to LEMP and only did so on 2 September and gave us seven days to comply with what is stated therein despite the fact that they had the plan from 17 June, ” said Mrs Zhou,

She said council responded on 22 September advising EMA that as it worked towards revising the LEMP on the issues that they had highlighted, there are some guidance it needed from EMA.

Mrs Zhou said in response to their request, EMA refused to give council appropriate methods of managing the landfill.

She said EMA does not have any operating guidelines of managing landfills.

“EMA failed to give us operating guidelines for landfills which is clearly incompetent and unacceptable. They also rejected council’s LEMP and rushed to court seeking an order compelling us to come up with a waste management plan,” said Mrs Zhou.

She said the Richmond sanitary landfill employs a dual monitoring system to check if its activities do not pose any harm to the environment,

Council disputed that it is compromising the health of residents in surrounding suburbs of Cowdray, Norwood and Richmond.

Mrs Zhou said in the last few years there has been an increase in the number of informal settlers next to the landfill.

“At one time, council with the assistance of Government demolished all the illegal structures around the landfill but due to economic hardships, the settlers are back to salvage recyclable waste material from the landfill,” she said
Mrs Zhou said EMA’s application is full if misinformation designed to create a false picture.

“The correct position is that on 12 May this year, the illegal settlers at Richmond sanitary landfill started a fire in violation of council by laws. The fire was reported to us and in turn we reported to EMA,” she said.

Mrs Zhou said they immediately dispatched a team of officers from the fire department to investigate the fire.

“Our team established that the area that was on fire was less than one hectare and not six hectares as claimed by EMA,” she said.

Mrs Zhou said the smoke was also largely localised to the landfill.

“We are surprised that EMA claims that the fumes stretched for over a 10km radius of the landfill, which is not correct. Suburbs within 10km radius would include Nketa, Tshabalala, Mzilikazi and even parts of the city centre,” she said.

“The applicant only mentions Cowdray Park, Norwood and Richmond suburbs which are all within 1-3km range of the landfill.”

Council said they deployed a team from the fire brigade and solid waste management officials to assess the fire and come up with measures to control and put it out.

“From their initial assessment, the fire seemed controllable and they thought it would burn out within 12 hours, but it continued to spread. The firefighting crew was at the site with their equipment for nearly 24 hours and when they left the fire had been brought under control save for the smouldering waste,” said Mrs Zhou.

“There is nothing sinister about it and therefore it is not correct that the fire was there for 15 consecutive days. The smouldering may have been there for that long.”

Mrs Zhou said council also doubted the integrity and authenticity of EMA’s air pollution measurements.

In its application, EMA explained the methodology that it used in carrying out the monitoring of ambient air pollution. However, BCC argued that the methodology used was not consistent with the sampling methods approved by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ).

“Neither has EMA shown that the sampling was in line with its operational guidelines. EMA has no sampling guidelines that it has published hence in the absence of this information, the air pollution results submitted are a non-event,” said Mrs Zhou.

She said council had to temporarily suspend some of the ongoing roadworks under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2) after reassigning its tipper trucks to the landfill.

Mrs Zhou said council also convened a multi stakeholders meeting on  8 June in order to find a lasting solution to the recurrence of landfill fires.

Mrs Zhou said council has also stock piled soil near the site as a fire preparedness measure as stipulated in its LEMP submitted to EMA.

“Another strategy for fire prevention in our LEMP was to continue with covering of waste and litter control centres. We maintain a team of six people to do litter control around the landfill and our efforts are paying off, even with limited resources,” she said

“EMA will concede that since 18 July 2021 there has been no fire outbreaks, which once again confirms that there was no need for the agency to rush to the court.”

In his founding affidavit, EMA’s director for environmental management services, Mr Steady Kangata said BCC’s failure to take measures to manage the landfill is in violation of the EMA Act and regulations related to air pollution and the Constitution.

“This is an application seeking a mandatory interdict directing the first respondent (BCC) to take measures as may be directed by EMA to properly manage its Richmond sanitary landfill waste disposal site, and to implement proper fire prevention measures,” he said.

Mr Kangata said BCC has a duty to act responsibly in its management to ensure that it doesn’t violate Bulawayo citizens’ right to a clean and safe environment as enshrined in section 73 of the Constitution. — @mashnets