Environment authority shows its teeth

The Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA) has surprised environmentalists by threatening to shut down one of the country's oldest industries for dumping toxic waste into an important river.

"We thought the SEA was just a ploy by government to give the appearance of caring about environmental issues, that in fact it would be as ineffective as government's Anti-Corruption Unit, which does nothing to deter government malfeasance," said Mbongeni Lukhele of the environmental group Great Cross.

Established seven years ago under the Ministry of Tourism, the SEA is tasked with monitoring compliance with environmental laws in a country where a largely peasant population is dependent on untreated water hand-drawn from rivers.

For the first five years of its existence, the authority did little to deter known polluters, particularly at the Matsapha Industrial Estate 30 km east of the capital, Mbabane, where the nation's manufacturing sector is based.

Last year, however, the SEA put industry on notice that illegal dumping of toxic waste in rivers used by residents for drinking water would not be tolerated.

A molasses distillery in Big Bend, in the country's eastern Lowveld region, was shut down after the company was caught discharging effluent into the Usuthu river. The company admitted its actions, and established safeguards.

In the latest incident, the SEA investigated complaints by residents south of the growing Matsapha Industrial Estate, of ailments resulting from the consumption of "poison" water from the Lusushwana river.

The river is a model of cleanliness when it flows out of Mantenga Nature Reserve, but then it passes through the Matsapha industries where its colour changes, according to residents who depend on the river for their water needs.

"It is brown one day, grey the next," said Thab'sile Dlamini, who lives in an informal settlement that has sprung up along the riverbank. The head teacher at Mthonjeni Primary School has reported widespread stomach ailments among students, though no fatalities.

Residents blamed several factories, including Swazi Paper Mills, for polluting the river. The SEA discovered chemical effluents originating from the paper mill, established in the 1970s and one of the country's largest employers, that flowed into the river via a canal leading through a power station.

The director of SEA, Jameson Vilakati, investigated the mill and reported: "They did not deny anything, but stated that a certain machine was not functioning, which forced untreated waste material to be deposited into the river." Vilakati added that an SEA directive would compel the company to shut down operations until the discharge problem is fixed.

A source with the company told IRIN the management has realised that if it does not end the discharge problem, plans for a new paper pulp and wood-chip mill would be jeopardised.

Sources at the SEA said approval of the new mill is dependent on the company handling its waste discharge problem. But more importantly, it sends a signal to Swazi industry that the approval of permits and expansion plans in future will be tied to a company's environmental record.

"This is a new reality," said the SEA source. "Before, it was 'anything goes'. Swaziland wanted to attract industry, and we had what seemed to be unlimited land and rivers, which most people took for granted. We're now running out of resources, and conservation is essential."

Two-thirds of Swazis live below the poverty line and many still source their water from nearby streams. "It is bad enough that our rivers, from which people drink, bathe and wash their clothes, are littered with the rusting frames of junked autos and all manner of debris, but they are also used as toilets by cattle," complained a Times of Swaziland story.