OUR REPORTER
KAMPALA – Without warning, the National Environment Management Authority, has issued a raft of high-priced fines worth about Shs 19 billion for garbage litter, noise pollution, and degrading the environment, among others.
The fines begin on April Fools’ Day, April 1.
While announcing the fines, Dr. Barirega Akankwasah, the executive director of NEMA, said the pricey penalties are an addition to the existing criminal prosecution measures and will herald the start of “an administrative penalty scheme for environmental breaches in line with the National Environment Act, No. 5 of 2019.”
Offenders will be required to pay the fines within the specified time frame and in a specific bank account, according to Akankwasah. The notice will specify the date and nature of the alleged contravention, a summary of the facts that NEMA or an authorized officer alleges, and the amount payable.
“The fines payable for specific environmental breaches are a computation of currency points, where one currency point is equivalent to Shs 20, 000. We call upon the public to strictly observe environmental best practices to avoid being penalized,” he said.
Fines
“Failure to conduct an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) or Environment Risk Assessment (ERA) for the projects that require ESIA or ERA will attract a fine not exceeding Sh1 billion for individuals, fifteen years in prison, or both; and Sh6 billion for corporate bodies,” he said.
According to the NEMA Act, the environment monitoring body retains the right to suspend operations at a facility, withdraw the ESIA certificate, permit, license, and other relevant documentation, or to commence prosecution until the fine is paid.
A person who doesn’t prefer a voluntary fine will be subject to prosecution and imprisonment or a fine as determined by the courts of law, he said.
He said under the Administrative Penalty Scheme, failure to conduct an annual environment audit will attract a penalty of up to Shs 1 billion or imprisonment not exceeding 15 years or both, whereas failure to display the complete certificate of approval of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment attracts a fine of Shs 1 billion for an individual and Shs 6 billion for a corporate entity.
Destroying, damaging, or disturbing a wetland in a manner that has or is likely to have an adverse effect on any plant or animal attracts a Shs 3 million fine, while neglecting or refusing to protect a lakeshore in accordance with the regulations attracts a Shs 3 million fine.
Littering, leaving trash outside residential premises, or uttering from commercial buildings, he said, will each result in a maximum fine of Shs 6 million.
Akankwasah further said: “Depositing rubbish or waste on a roadside or ditch; depositing rubbish in a river, stream, lake, pond, canal, or channel; and littering from cars or driving a car without a dustbin will each attract a fine of Shs 6 million.”
He said importing; exporting, manufacturing, using, or reusing plastic carrier bags or plastic products made of polymers of ethane (polythene) and propylene that are below 30 microns will attract a fine of Shs 100 million.
Over the years, NEMA has failed to enforce the ban on polythene bags in the country. In 2021, the Cabinet directed the Water and Environment Minister Beatrice Anywar to enforce new measures, which included banning the manufacture and importation of polythene bags in a bid to protect the environment and natural resources, but nothing was done.
“Dealing in activities that result in aggravated pollution or polluting the environment in violation of the conditions contained in a pollution control license or permit, the discharge or emission of pollutants into the environment in violation of approved standards, or emitting noise in excess of permissible noise levels will result in a Shs 10 million fine upon conviction while failing to immediately reduce noise to a permissible noise level when required to do so will result in a maximum fine of Shs 10 million.”