New courts to protect environmentJOHANNESBURG — Specialised courts to deal specifically with environmental crimes will come into effect early in 2010, the ministry of water and environmental affairs said yesterday.
Spokesman Sputnik Ratau said the specialised courts — a priority for Minister Buyelwa Sonjica and provincial MECs — were expected to come into effect in about eight months time.
Sonjica on Monday said the courts were on the list of priorities she and the provincial MECs had agreed on.
Ratau said the other agreed priorities could not be given a time frame as they were ongoing initiatives.
These included the greening of townships, environmental impact management, air quality and public education.
Also included on the list of priorities read out by Sonjica at a press briefing held in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, on Monday were coastal management and conservation of marine resources.
Climate change, women and the youth were also on the list, along with sustainable job creation and skills development.
The minister’s announcement followed her meeting with the MECs which endorsed a list of priorities to be tackled.
Sonjica called for a renewed focus on environmental crimes.
“We have problems with mines who just dump their waste anywhere and get away with it. We also have the abalone problem in our country. But the people involved often get away,” she said.
Source: Witness
Keep it Green
