Province awash with EIAs

There were 354 environmental impact assessment applications “pending” in the Eastern Cape at the end of March, Environmental Affairs and Tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has told the National Assembly.

Van Schalkwyk revealed that 93 applications were “pending” in terms of the 1997 EIA regulations and 261 in terms of those promulgated in 2006.

In reply to a written question from Gareth Morgan (DA), the minister said that there was a shortage of staff and even in provinces such as the Eastern Cape where there were only two vacancies at the end of March “a significant percentage of filled posts are occupied by case officers with limited experience”.

Nationally, Van Schalkwyk said the situation was improving with applications in terms of the 1997 regulations that were pending standing at 998 on March 31 this year as opposed to 5 859 at the end of June 2006..

With regard to the 2006 regulations, he said that some 70 per cent nationally were dealt with in the prescribed timeframes and “provincial authorities have started to express concerns that a new backlog might be forming … primarily due to capacity considerations”.