Hee-hawing with NEPA over NSWMA

THE NATIONAL Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), this week, engaged in a bit of high comedy by threatening to withdraw the environmental permits it granted merely a month ago to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) for the operation of the Riverton City Landfill. That landfill operated without the permits for decades until this newspaper blew the whistle.

NEPA is concerned over the latest fire at Riverton, which it wants extinguished by tomorrow, and for security at the facility, including perimeter fencing, to limit the possibility of future fires. On the latter, the NSWMA has 30 days to comply.

Then what, if the NSWMA doesn't comply? We hardly see the practical consequence of NEPA revoking the permit of this government agency, especially in the absence of an alternative facility.

If NEPA is serious, it would find a way to take NSWMA and the responsible minister to court, to ensure that there is technically competent management in place, capable of handling the complexities of a modern landfill. It should also be asking the agency to publicly offer a structured and enforceable programme to transform Riverton, and to account for the more than US$30 million in international financing received nearly two decades ago to establish a proficient solid-waste system when NSWMA was established.

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