The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism has recorded 85% compliance with the provisions of the Environmental Management Act.

Executive Director Teofilus Nghitila says a total of 1,600 applications for Environmental Clearance Certificates were received during 2022–2023.

The Environmental Management Act was enacted to ensure the protection of the environment.

The Act identified a number of activities that have the potential to harm the environment and therefore cannot be undertaken without an environmental clearance certificate.

Nghitila says a total of 1,600 applications for environmental clearance certificates were received during 2022–2023, of which 948 were issued.

Nghitila says the certificates were issued for activities related to hazardous substances, infrastructure development, urban development, and mining.

He says the flow of applications has improved due to the online application systems and the intensification of awareness activities that they have been carrying out.

He also revealed that during this year, 150 sites were inspected for environmental compliance and monitoring.

About 20 compliance orders were issued related mainly to waste management and sand mining activities.

Nghitila, however, says illegal sand mining remains a challenge, and the ministry is working closely with the police to better regulate and bring culprits to book when it comes to the mushrooming of illegal sand mining activities.

The ministry has also developed draft regulations specific to sand mining in terms of the Environmental Management Act to improve coordination and regulation of these natural resources.

However, these regulations will only be gazetted once the Environmental Management Act is amended.