Go Green

Fiji leader Frank Bainimarama opens the door to democracy

2012-01-02T00:05:00.000-08:00

FIJI'S military government will move on Saturday to lift a state of emergency it imposed in 2009, as the country prepares to open consultation on a new constitution, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said in a New Year's message.

The Public Emergency Regulations gave police and the military extended powers, imposed tough censorship on the South Pacific nation's media and tightly controlled public assembly.

The military government of 2006 coup leader Bainimarama overturned the country's constitution in 2009, imposing emergency rule after the nation's Court of Appeal ruled the military government was illegal.

In his statement last night, Bainimarama stressed that public order would be maintained and that he would soon announce nationwide consultation for a new constitution, beginning next month, to establish a democratically elected government.

While Bainimarama gave no details of what will replace martial law, his regime has already created a media council with powers that ensure the state's continuing control over what is published.

"The (new) constitution must establish a government that is founded on an electoral system that guarantees equal suffrage, a truly democratic system based on the principle of one person, one vote, one value," he said.

"We will not have a system that will classify Fijians based on ethnicity," he said, adding that votes would be extended to 18-year-olds.

Bainimarama has broken earlier pledges to return to elections, but for the past two years has consistently said elections will be held in 2014.

When he seized power in a bloodless coup, Bainimarama said Fiji's ruling political classes were corrupt, and that the existing voting system was racially based to give indigenous Fijians greater voting power than the ethnic Indians who make up around 35 per cent of the nation's 900,000 people.

He said Fiji had been mismanaged and hindered by greed and selfishness.

"You and I must not allow a few to dictate the destiny of our country for their own selfish needs," he repeated in his message lat night.

Relations between Fiji and many countries have soured since Bainimarama seized power, and he has remained under heavy pressure to return Fiji to democracy.

Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions and financial penalties have been imposed on the government. Fiji remains suspended from the British Commonwealth.

Source: Herald Sun

Big developers warned against degrading environment

2012-01-01T23:50:00.000-08:00

Over a dozen housing societies, including the military-run Defence Housing Authority (DHA), are in trouble with the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) for brazenly violating the environment laws of the country.

Section 12 of the Environment Protection Act 1997 says no proponent of a housing project can commence construction, or operation, unless it hands in an Initial Environment Examination (IEE) or, depending on the size of the project, an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report to Pak-EPA.

The IEE or EIA report is vital to understand if the project would damage the environment in any way.

“All housing societies have broken the law,” Director General Pak-EPA Asif Shuja said, lamenting what he called the highhandedness of developers who cared least for the law.

Indeed, documents available with Dawn reflect such highhandedness, most by the DHA among the big culprits.

According to the documents, Pak-EPA had been reminding DHA since 2004 of the violation but the reminders had been falling on deaf ears.

Only after Pak-EPA warned six years later that its failure to comply with the environment laws would result in an exparte decision, did the DHA respond. It wrote back that DHA did not have an expert in the field and could not cooperate with Pak-EPA until it hired one. In other words, DHA told the government agency to hold its horses for an indeterminate period.

Similar warnings had gone to five civil housing societies in Sector E-11 such as Federation of Employees Cooperative Housing Society, National Police Foundation Housing Society, Services Cooperative Housing Society, Multi-Professionals Cooperative Housing Society, Pakistan Medical Cooperative Housing Society as well as to the River Garden, CBR Employees Cooperative Housing Society, Soan Gardens, Lohi Bher, PWD Housing Society, Pakistan Town and Korang Town on the outskirts of the city.

“We will take them to court if they do not comply,” the Pak-EPA chief said about the first big five societies.

“We are serious because they have been dumping sewerage into fresh water streams. They have been served notices in this regard too,” he said to show culpability existed and that it was not an empty threat.

Since the five societies did nothing practical to honour their commitment to check environmental degradation, he said he was “serious” in doing to them what he did to Bari Imam area – plug the pipes emptying its sewage into natural aquifers.

Pak-EPA, in collaboration with the Capital Development Authority (CDA), closed more than 400 sewerage pipelines with concrete to stop the dirty water ending up in streams that recharge the Rawal Lake.

Loopholes in CDA laws are often exploited by private housing societies to run amok with the environment, according to Pak-EPA chief.

Does the government agency has the spine to take on the big, powerful developers?

Asif Shuja explained that in the initial stages Pak-EPA lacked resources and did not feel strong enough to take action.

However, things have changed and the mighty DHA is being “requested” to prepare an Environment Management Plan to prevent further degradation of Islamabad’s surroundings.“There are examples of sound development projects around us to learn from,” he added.

“Bahria Town has complied with every rule and fulfilled every requirement to EPA’s satisfaction when it comes to the conservation of the capital city’s environments. Bahria Town submits an environment assessment report every month of its ongoing development project,” he said.

EPA Acts On Power Plant Emissions

2012-01-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

AFTER lawsuits and regulatory battles that stretch back to the Clean Air Act of 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a regulation requiring coal-fired and oil-fired electric power plants to cut mercury, arsenic, cyanide, and other toxic air emissions. The new regulation will reduce mercury emissions from the worst-performing plants by 90%.

The new regime affects 1,400 utilities, 1,100 of which are large, coal-fired electric power plants that provide nearly half of the U.S.’s electricity. EPA estimates that 40% of these coal-based plants do not use modern pollution control equipment. Some are at least 50 years old. The move is expected to quicken the shift of utilities away from coal, but EPA gave utilities four years to comply.

EPA estimates the safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks annually, as well as 130,000 cases of childhood asthma and about 6,300 cases of acute bronchitis.

The regulation will cost utilities about $9.6 billion, EPA says, but will result in $37 billion to $90 billion in annual health benefits. The agency also predicts the regulation will create thousands of manufacturing, installation, and operational jobs.

Coal-fired power plants are the U.S.’s largest remaining source of toxic air pollutants and are responsible for half of the nation’s mercury emissions and 75% of its acid gas releases.

As a result of the Clean Air Act, other major sources of mercury emissions—medical waste and municipal waste incinerators—have already cut those emissions, EPA notes; only power plants remain.

The new pollution limits are technology based, requiring old plants to match emissions limits of the best performing 12% of coal-fired power plants. New technologies could include a combination of selective catalytic reduction equipment, fabric filters, and injected activated carbon to capture mercury and other toxic emissions. About half of the nation’s coal-fired power plants have installed the equipment, EPA estimates.

Utilities are split on the regulation: Cleaner utilities back the agency, but utilities with old coal plants and uncontrolled emissions warn that the regulation will cause them to shutter plants.

Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347