Building Nsanje Port on Shire Zambezi Waterway

Building Nsanje Port on Shire Zambezi WaterwayProject translationMa jurisprudencei is a landlocked country that relies on Mozambican ports on the Indian Ocean for transportation of imported and exported goods. The image provide open new doors for Malawi and minify transport costs. Currently Malawi uses Beira and Nacala port in Mozambique from which transporters cover a return quad of about 1700km from Blantyre. Using Nsanje port, transporters now will cover a distance of 238 km for a return journey to Blantyre as opposed to Beira port. Reduction in transport costs may lead to reduction of other goods such as agricultural inputs. This will be a benefit to the Malawians who depend on agriculture for their economy and it will excessively improve food security in the country.The endure will also provide Malawi with a multimodal transport linkage to other land locked countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia the battalion of Nsanje district will be empower socially and economically due to new infrastructure and markets that will be established to support the services of the port the visual scenery of Nsanje district will improve with the building of the port creation of temporary and permanent jobs time saving and reduction on wear and tear of vehicles due to reduced change of location distance.Though the disgorge will have positive effects but will also have negative impacts such as loss of fishing area and income for fishermen who employ to fish on the shire river air and piddle system defilement due to turn of events work that will take present on the site the brook will affect the water species found along this area of the Shire river empowerment of people socially and economically may sum up the spreading of HIV and AIDS as this districts already has high percentage of HIV patients due to cultural beliefs urbanization due to viable environment for wee scale and large scale businesses natural visual scenery will be affected by new built structures, risk to flooding along the Shire river conflicts with hosting communities and negative influences on religion and local culture.LocationThe project will be located at Nsanje District in Malawi. Malawi is located mingled with latitudes of 09 and 17 south and longitudes of 33 and 37 east. Malawi is bordered by Zambia in the East, Tanzania in the North and Mozambique in the South and West. Nsanje District Assembly is found at the tip of Southern Malawi where Malawi shares borders with Mozambique. It is at this place that the shire river passes along the boundary between Malawi and Mozambique flowing into Zambezi river and then to Indian Ocean through Chinned Port. The site was selected because of the wider breadth of the river as it connects to Zambezi River offering a better place for the port. Location map is shown in relation to the Shire River and location for the proposed port.Malawi Map showing location of Nsanje, resource showing location of the port, Shire River and Nacala c orridor from Mozambique.MALAWIS EIA LEGISLATUREIn Malawi the Environmental propel enacted in 1996, provides the legal framework for the protection and management of the environment, the conservation and sustainable consumption of natural resources. EIA bear ones are outlined on section 24 of the Act to which all private and public developers must adhere to. The Act has outlined projects for which EIA is requisite before implementation of the project as gazetted in section 24. The section also stipulates all activities that must be carried out by the developer before both implementation. The developer has to submit a project brief to the Environmental Affairs Department (EAD) who administers the environmental Act. The theater director assesses the project and is supported by expertise from the technical charge of environmental affairs (TEC) which participate in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements project briefs reviews harm of Reference (ToRs) and EIA repor ts develop and varan project auditing design and recommended course of action to the Director though the director is non bound by the TEC report. The act also stipulates that only the EAD is mandated to issue out present under section 26(3) for which an EAI is required.For thorough evaluation of project activities that might have significant impact on the environment by the port developer, the EIA is supported by various Malawi government Acts and policies as indicated in table 1 and other international legislatures as attached on appendix I.Malawi legal documents4.2 EIA ProcessThe EAI surgery is carried out in phases in a project cycle in which EIA requirements are integrated within the cycle (EMA, 1996). The project cycle is carried out in phases and begins with a c erstpt then pre-feasibility and feasibility studies before a detailed design and implementation phase. The objective of the cycle it to provide detailed and up-to-date environmental information at key stages in th e cycle. This helps the developer to identify early results from an EIA and able to take action on any significant changes and adopt them during project implementation. The project cycle also provides opportunity to the developer, consultant, relevant authorities, interested parties and the general public to assess the impacts of the project on the environment and provide alternatives on adverse effects. The project cycle focuses on identification of negative impacts, reasonable alternatives and assessing the relevant issues so as to ensure that the EIA becomes a useful to decision makers. All the activities in the project cycle are done through screening and scoping.4.1 ScreeningScreening allows a project to be assessed whether an EIA is required or not and establishes the basis for scoping (Theodorsdouttir, 1999). In Malawi, screening is done through a project brief which is a document that highlights critical issues prepared by the developer and in this case the Malawi Government and is submitted to the Director of Environmental Affairs Department and who is supported by TEC to assess whether it requires EIA or not. Building of an inland port is among the projects that EIA is mandatory in Malawi therefore an EIA is to be carried out (EMA, 1996).4.2 ScopingScooping ensures that all relevant issues to be addressed in an EIA are established and makes sure that all relevant authorities, interested and affected parties are involved, alternatives to the project are identified and to make sure that the resources are conserved and used wisely. In Malawi, comprehensive identification of the significant impacts are based on the Terms of Reference (ToRs) which are prepared by the developer and approved by the director (EMA, 1996). ToRs are identified in the scooping process. The figure I below outlines all the EIA process in Malawi.4.3 ASSESSMENT METHODThere are various methods of assessing environmental project impacts such as checklist, network diagrams, graphical c omparisons overlays and matrices (FAO, 1995) In this assessment matrices as shown in figure 2 have been used to come up with the most significant impacts as matrices intimately identify impacts in a heavyset form and provides better bases for evaluating most significant ones Leopold et al. (1971).4.4 Environmental PlanImpacts identified in the matrices are further assessed by Stakeholders, EAD, TEC, general public and the developer to evaluate the impacts and also identify mitigation measures. In the environmental plan potential project impacts are identified in regard to project phases as indicated in adjunct IIThe most significant impact Water PollutionThe most significant environmental impact on this project is water pollution. Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies through pollutants which are discharged directly into water bodies without adequate measures to remove harmful compounds. Water pollution may take place due to effluents derived from soil erosion, ac cidental spills, waste oil, fertilizers and detergents, heavy metal and pesticides, heat and micro-organisms (JICA/GOK, 1992).5.1 Significant ImpactsDrinking Water Water is considered safe if it can be used by human beings and other living creatures without any effect (UNEP, 1999). Polluted water is not safe for drinking for the communities living along the river and can easily wipe away a large population of human beings and animals as the birds shown in figure3.Odour Sediments in the water under the structures may cause water stagnation and after sometime the water may produce odours that may be nuisance to the people working round the areaImpact on irrigation Water polluted with chemicals and oil spills may affect irrigated crops.Recreation Polluted water will not be good for swimming or pastime as it may affect the people in contact with polluted water.To reduce water pollution, there is need to provide mitigation and monitoring measures as shown in table III below.Significant impactProject ActivityPossible Mitigation measuresPrediction and manageing measuresWater pollutionLandfills and site emergenceCareful site selection and layout design is important to reduce stagnation. Dredging should be carried out to remove any deposits and sediments in the waterEnhance the water law Act to punish offenders who deliberately pollute waterConstruction of break waters, bays and terminalsMake a fence around the construction areaQuarterly meetings during the construction phase should be held to monitor the negative environmental impacts. TEC and EAD to monitor the activitiesDredging and disposal of dredged materialsProper disposal of dredged material plays an important role in preserving the environment.Monitor sediment deposits and use Secchi disk to check depth and visibility (United Nations, 1992).Waste ManagementEncourage recycling and devise proper means of disposing both substantive and liquid wasteDistrict Assembly to monitor all dumping sites and advise res idents accordingly.Transportation of construction materialsProper handling of raw materials is required i.e. privacy cement and sprinkle water frequently on dusty roadsMonitor handling of the raw materials.Vessel traffic operationsAppropriate regulations should be put in place to cater for charge discharge, emissions and oil from cargo, ship spills and disposal of wasteUse of Microwave remote sensing satellites and receivers aboard ship vessels to monitor ship movements, oil spills and grease and ship leakage in the river (Woodhouse, 2006).Use predictions models to monitor water tone such as Artificial give-and-take models, Artificial Neural Network models and Mathematical assimilations (Najah et al., 2009)Cargo handling and storageSpecial equipment should be provided for handling cargo and transportation of goods and Provision should be make for periodical clean-up of floats and wastesDeveloper to monitor that cargo handling equipment is regularly servicedWaterfront and cargo op erationsProvide regulations on effluent from waterfront industries and monitoring of water qualityTEC to monitor all activities probably by employing a full time environmental specialist.Transportation of goodsAll roads leading to the port must have bitumen to turn away dust which may pollute the water.Stakeholders to monitor where they there expertise is required.5.2 Acts that govern the legislature for water areEnvironmental Management Act 1996 which stipulates the conservation and sustainability of engagement of natural resources and water is one of the natural resources.Water Resources Act 1969The act governs the control conservation, apportionment and use of water resources in Malawi.Water Works ActThe act makes an offence if any person willfully and negligently causes water pollution.5.3 Baseline dataBaseline data is the collection of relevant information proposed in the project with the purpose of determining the status and trends of environmental factors (e.g., water pollu tant concentrations). This offers opportunities to predict changes in terms of importance and provide for means of detecting actual changes once the project is initiated. Baseline data plays an important role in EIA assessment and monitoring of environmental effects (Wathern, 1988).Alpha (1995) recommends the following data to be stash away for checking water pollutionDissolved OxygenWater conductivityWater salinityTurbidityTemperaturePHUse of questionnaire to get more information from the communities around the district Assembly on the activities that take place along the riverMeasurements on sediments.Maps showing river catchments area5.3.1 Parameters for checking water qualityUNEP prescribes measurement of various parameters for assessing, water quality and these include-Temperature recommended is between 25 and 35Suspended solids it is recommended is 30mg/lBiochemical oxygen Demand (5-day at 20 C) Clean water is between 4mg/l to 10 and more than 10 is considered pollutedHeavy metal concentration should not exceed 0.1mg/l in combinationLead (PB) less than 0.1mg/lMercury (Hg) less than 0.005 mg/lSilver (Ag) , Zinc(Zn), Chromium (Cr), Arsenic (As) less than 0.05 mg/lNickel (nI) less than 0.3 mg/l slob (Cu), Cyanides (CN), Hydrogen Sulphide (S) less than 1.0mg/lFree Ammonia (NH 3 ) less than 0.2mg/lPhenolic Compounds (Phenol) 0.001 mg/lNitrates (N) 10mg/lPhosphatesFloating materials oils suds and greases.Bhardwaj, 2005, suggest water quality criteria as shown in the table below5.4 GAPSMeasurement of water quality can only be undertaken by people with special expertise and with special equipment which cannot be used by a local person and the water measuring instruments are not up-to-date and not enough to cover all water bodies in the country (UNEP, 1999).ConclusionThis project has a significant impact on water which is critical to water species and human beings therefore mitigation measures have to be followed to reduce water pollution in the Shire river w hich its impacts may have an effect over a long distance and all the way to the Indian ocean and affect so many people and all water habitats.