Last week, EMA reportedly ordered residents to pay a fine
of $100 000 for illegally operating “an air polluting appliance (generator)
without a license”.
Residents expressed dismay over the issue.
International crisis analyst Piers Pigou tweeted: “Imagine
you must now pay tax to operate a generator in Zimbabwe over 5kVA, yet you have
to do so because government can’t supply power.
This is the ‘logic’ of a governance culture that is clearly not fit for
purpose. Poor Zimbabweans also pay a fee
for radio in their cars.”
In a statement yesterday, EMA said they meant those
operating generators for commercial or industrial use.
“The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) would like to
correct a notion that it licences operations of any generator above 5kVA, which
has caused unnecessary panic among members of the public especially those using
generators at household level or for domestic purposes.
“As a matter of fact, Section 64 of the Environmental
Management Act (Cap 20:27) clearly stipulates that: ‘No owner or operator of a
trade or any establishment shall emit a substance or energy which causes or is
likely to cause air pollution without an emission licence,’ thus clearly
indicating that this is an operation at commercial level or for industrial
use,” the EMA statement read.
The agency warned offenders that will fail to pay the fixed
environmental penalty by February 20 that they risk being issued with warrants
of arrest.
Due to the power crisis in the country, residents have
resorted to use of generators as an alternative source of energy. Newsday
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