Dangote plant fined 15m/- for polluting

SUNDAY NEWS Reporter

Dangote cement plant

THE National Environmental Council (NEMC) has ordered the Dangote Industrial Limited to pay a fine of 15m/- for contravening the Environmental Management Act, 2004 and its regulations.

The Deputy Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office, Union and Environment, Luhaga Mpina, penalised the Mtwara based cement industry on his second day of his tour of the region. The minister realised that the industry that has three months since it launched its operations is polluting the environment as it lacked a dumpsite.
The deputy minister further said the industry had no toilets and other environmental facilities.
According to the deputy minister, the penalty is supposed to be paid within two weeks. However, he added, the industry’s administration should work on all environmental weaknesses including employing an environment officer who will oversee all logistics.
The industry’s Administration Manager, James Kajeli, asked the minister to scrap the penalty insisting that the industry had already put measures in place to ensure that the environmental legislation was fully implemented.
He said some of the challenges that were discovered by Mr Mpina came as a result of human errors. Mr Kajeli further defended the administration that failure to put up environmental infrastructure was caused by delays in securing requisite permits from the government institutions.
Mr Mpina also visited the Madiba gas industry where he praised the industry’s top management for abiding by the environmental law. He asked all state owned industries to be in the forefront and lead by example