AGRICULTURE Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy called on National Federation Party parliamentarian Lenora Qereqeretabua to stop politicising the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process.
Speaking in Parliament this week, he accused Ms Qereqeretabua of garnering support from members of the Vesari community to oppose construction of an asphalt plant in Lami via social media.
“We are undertaking a public consultation and honourable Qereqeratabua is politicising this process,” he said. “I urge all members of this House not to politicise this process.
“Just yesterday someone sent me a Facebook post where honourable Qereqeretabua is asking members of Vesari community to oppose the asphalt plant construction in Lami. But we can’t expect much better from a person who has cursed our children a few months back.”
Dr Reddy said the key stages in the EIA process under the Environment Management Act 2005 and Environment Management Regulations included screening to etermine whether an EIA was required for the proposed development.
He said it also required scoping to determine the scope of the EIA report, preparation of the EIA report by the proponent, review of the EIA report and decision on the development proposal.
