December 15 2008
The cut-off date for public comment on the controversial Wild Coast Toll Road EIR has been extended to 22 January, 2009.
This follows concern expressed by numerous Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) that the cut off date of 9th January was cutting into the holiday season. The same had been the case with the Record of Decision authorizing the N2 toll road over the summer holiday season of 2003/2004. Many organizations felt this was a ploy to cut out comment as most of South Africa is on holiday over the festive season.
“We are most grateful to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) who had responded that the comment period must be extended until January 22″, said Bishop Geoff Davies, Chairman of Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC). “SWC was among many who objected to the short comment period. We are told that all I&APs should now receive notification of the extension by post.
“However, we are surprised that our other concerns have not been addressed, as we cannot comment meaningfully until they have. These are that the public open days were held in KZN and Eastern Cape only, while there are many interested and affected parties who live in Gauteng or the Free State or Western Cape, and that the EIR presentations that were held were inaccessible to the local communities of Pondoland and the Eastern Cape. These are the
people who will be the most directly affected.
SWC wrote to NMA, who is responsible for the public participation process, that the format of the information displays and presentations at the public open days was neither culturally nor educationally suitable as a means of conveying adequate and understandable information to rural communities residing in Eastern Cape. “SWC considers the format used did not enable disempowered, often illiterate, orally based communities to gain an adequate understanding
of the full implications of the road.
“Since the last scheduled public open day was 11 December, we are dismayed that there has been no response to this point. The National Environment Management Act (NEMA) Section 4(2)(f) requires the state to ensure participation by vulnerable and disadvantaged persons in environmental governance. Section 2(4)(h) of NEMA prescribes the following additional measures to ensure the protection of the environment : `community well-being and empowerment must be promoted through environmental education, the raising of
environmental awareness, the sharing of knowledge and experience and other appropriate means´.
Consequently, SWC called for an extension of the Public Comment Period , an extension of workshops and public comment days to other Provinces, and a relook at the presentation format in rural communal areas which would allow for a `community education´ process that
would empower rural communities with the means to become informed decision makers with regard to the proposal.
“There is a great deal of public concern regarding the future well-being of the Wild Coast” commented Bishop Davies who is also director of the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI), “so we look forward to hearing from NMA that they will pay heed to our call which, after all, simply follows the requirements of our National Environment act.”
Posted on December 17th, 2008 by Louis
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