By Ragan M. Conteh
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in Kenema has arrested three soap making company heads for producing lethal soap with a potential to cause serious health consequences in Kenema Township after an EPA ban.
In the EPA ban notice signed by Executive Chairman Dr Sandi Genzo to the three soap making companies in Kenema, the institution said companies have been informed that “the operations of your company is in violation of the Environment Protection Agency Act of 2008 as amended in 2010 to which (you are) operating without a valid Environmental Impact Assessment License contrary to Section 23 of the said Act.”
It went further that “the operations of these companies pose serious threats to the lives of people and degrade the environment in your areas of operation.”
Therefore, “by reason of the matters mentioned and pursuant to Section 53 of the EPA Act of 2008 your operations are by this notice hereby suspended with immediate effect.”
It advised that “you are required to obtain the EPA License within two months from the date of this notice, failing which equipment on your site will be seized and forfeited to the state.”
If these companies ceased operating, they are required to restore equipment to the state they met there before the start of their operations, adding they must communicate their restoration plans to the agency two weeks after the notice.
According to the notice, violation of Section 23(1) of the EPA Act is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding Le25 million for a citizen of Sierra Leone and $10,000 (equivalent to Le100 million) for a non citizen or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years, or to both fine and imprisonment.
The notice continued that “the EPA further take notice that violation 53 is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty million Leones (50,000,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both fine and imprisonment”.
The Nightwatch newspaper has learnt that, despite the notice and elaboration by EPA, the soap making companies in Kenema are still operating their illegal activities that pose serious health hazards to the community.
Speaking to the EPA’s IEC Officer in Kenema, Willie Sylvanas Collier, he said the EPA discovered that soap making in Kenema District poses a serious and several health implications to the environment and human health in the region.
According to Collier, the said local soap producers in the country do so without adhering to the EIA processes, adding that soap production poses very serious health hazards to air, land and sea, “and also has a bearing on the safety of animals.”
He said making soap involves chemicals with the propensity to cause great harm to the soil, “not to talk about the human health.”
He adding that as an institution geared towards protecting the environment, they deemed it prudent to ban these companies for them to meet the EIA processes.
Mr. Collier pointed out that four soap companies are currently operating illegally in the Kenema Township, adding that “these companies even though they have huge economic benefits for ordinary people who are employed, they as well generate revenue for government. But they have health implications that should be taken into consideration.”
He revealed that one of the companies that operated by the swamp in the township has been shutdown and that the three are under ban.
Mr. Collier disclosed that a similar ban has been instituted in Bo District because the production of this soap has serious health consequences and that people have been arrested and detained for violating the EPA Kenema notice.
He confirmed that their office will not encourage influence from any quarter during their operation to protect the environment, adding that the EPA Kenema will ensure that people especially companies that are not in consonance with the EPA laws face the harshest resistance.
He assured that in the not too distant future, anyone that has not met his/her EIA obligation will not operate in the district, adding that the EPA have looked at the human face of these people and companies and have allowed them to finish producing what they’d started.
He said, the EPA will however constitute a monitoring mechanism to conduct quality quarterly monitoring, and assured educating companies to do the needful.
The Regional Environment, EPA-SL officer, Abdul Kebbie also expressed the need for EPA to robustly protect the environment in the Eastern Region through lawful means.
A community stakeholder, Sylvester Sandi, said the influx of these local soap making companies in Kenema has degenerated into serious health implications for their environment especially the degrading of the soil which affects their farming activities.
“The waste from these companies has set serious setback on our activities. Our swamp has been damaged by the chemicals spilling over our swamps, damaging our crops and other produce.”
They, however, expressed satisfaction with the swift EPA intervention to curtail such lethal chemicals with the tendency of undermining farmers’ livelihoods in the region, and appealed to EPA to ensure that such companies operate in secluded communities in full adherence to EIA protocols.