2. Description and Evaluation of the IDEA Projects - … in development... · 2. Description and Evaluation of the IDEA Projects The IDEA projects have been extensively documented

2. Description and Evaluation of the IDEAProjects

The IDEA projects have been extensively documented and theintention here is only to summarise the main points to arise from thecase studies (for more detailed discussion see Carley andSmith,1989,1990a,b,1991).

It is also important to note that, although this is a report on PhaseII of a limited duration research project, by the very the nature of theIDEA projects, a dynamic process has been initiated, which willcontinue. The projects are therefore mostly reported as on-going,rather than as nearing the end of limited term. This is not to imply anyfuture commitments of any parties, but does suggest the sustainabilityof most of the projects.

Naturally the degree of progress for each country task variesaccording to the severity of the original problem and the individualnational characteristics relevant to problem resolution. The extent ofprogress is reported below. However, it is within the methodologicalexpectations of IDEA that this variety provides a cross-section oflikely institutional constraints and thus contributes to the replicablelearning of the programme, reported in the main body of the report.

Watershed managementWatershed management in the Densu Basin of GhanaThe original concern, arising out of the project leader’s scientificstudies, was over the long term effects of pollution and siltation in theWeija Reservoir on the Densu River, which supplies about half thedrinking water of Accra as well as downstream irrigationrequirements. Under IDEA, this concern has given rise to a moresophisticated understanding of the man-nature interactions in thewatershed, and the institutional constraints and opportunities. Theproject’s objectives have been set out as:

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• to rehabilitate the Densu River basin ecosystem and therebyimprove the flow of the river, minimise flood risk, and improvethe quality of the water in river and Weija Reservoir.

• to document the methodology and findings of this study and todisseminate to target audiences and communities throughdiscussions, seminars, audiovisual presentations and fielddemonstrations.

• to publish the results in appropriate form and media for widerdissemination and possible application.

The main causes of pollution in the watershed arise from rapidurbanisation as a result of rural to urban migration at NsawamTownship, and intensification of agriculture and logging activitiesalong the banks of the Densu River. Eleven agencies in central andlocal government have been identified by the project as havingsubstantial control over activities in the Densu Basin, and theirmanagement structures and legal and institutional frameworks havebeen analysed. The project team also extended the initial boundariesof the study area to include the whole of the Densu Basin from itsestuary to its source, a distance of 116km. This brought two furtheragencies responsible for forestry and mining activities in the upperreaches, into the framework.

Fisherman at the dam at the head of the Weija Reservoir on the Densu River in Ghana.The original concern of the IDEA Project was over the long-term effects of pollution andsiltation on the reservoir and the river caused by logging, intensive agriculture and rapidurbanisation. Under the project, these concerns have given rise to guidelines forrehabilitation of the watershed and a recommendation for a river basin authority. (photo:M. Carley)

Innovation in development for environmental action

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Against a background of continuing deterioration of water quality,the project team initiated a programme of awareness creation to alertpeople of the severity of the problem and of the implications of theiractions on water quality. This included visits to agencies, and the useof newspaper articles to raise the level of problem acceptance. InJanuary 1990, the project team organised a seminar on Densu RiverBasin Development. This was attended by 40 persons, representing 26agencies and organisations with an interest in the Densu Basin. Thisseminar was described by the IDEA team leader as ‘the first evermeeting of agencies involved in diverse developmental projects withina common ecological zone in Ghana’.

Out of this seminar arose a series of recommendations, theforemost of which are the establishment of a river basin authority, apublic awareness programme, agency actions to reduce environmentaldegradation, and the institutionalisation of EIA procedures.

The project team, based in the Institute of Aquatic Biology (andwith the collaboration of other technical institutions and agenciesincluding the Water Resources Research Institute, Institute ofRenewable Natural Resources, Forestry Department, the Ghana Waterand Sewage Corporation, the Industrial Research Institute and theEnvironmental Protection Council) has set itself a series of tasksstemming from the above recommendations and other more detailedones. In addition their work has been taken up by the districtadministrations in the project area who are relying on the team toformulate guidelines for rehabilitation of the Densu basin.

The guidelines will consider the problems of sewage, industrialeffluents, and inappropriate landfill arrangements. In terms of siltationproblems, agro-forestry is one recommended and accepted (by thecommunities) means of rehabilitating deforested areas in the riverbasin. The idea of dredging the river at Nsawam or channellingthrough canals is also being explored. It is proposed to use theimprovement in the quality and flavour of water in the Weija reservoir,reduction in chemicals used in water production, and reducedincidences of floods in the basin as indicators of the success of therehabilitation exercise.

The IDEA team has also identified areas for which training isnecessary to enable the continued successful implementation ofenvironmental management strategies. These include: river basinmanagement, waste management, environmental impact assessment,

Description and evaluation of the IDEA projects

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urban systems management (with special reference to rapidly growingtropical townships) and environmental health. They plan to establishpriorities for these training needs and seek assistance through theIDEA network. They also recommended that the Institute ofRenewable Natural Resources at the University of Science andTechnology at Kumasi take on the watershed as an interdisciplinaryarea of study, and this has been accepted. The team has also made inputto the draft Water Commission Act which is being sponsored by theMinistry of Works and Housing. This Commission is expected toensure planned and coordinated activities in all water bodies in Ghana.

The Ghana project has brought together institutions, agencies andthe communities at risk through their district administrations in a broadbased action to tackle a watershed management problem . It hascreated an environmental awareness among the communities, andthrough the press and the media, highlighted nationally the urgent needto tackle environmental degradation in this and other river basins inthe country. In addition, the experience being gained by the technicalpersons involved has widened their perspectives and improved thecapability of their respective institutions. The team now faces the taskof maintaining the coordinated relationship developed among thetechnical agencies on the one hand, and the eight districtadministrations on the other, during the next phase of implementing,monitoring and evaluating the rehabilitation programme. It isproposed to carry through this project with the communities’participation. Based on the success achieved, the IDEA team couldrecommend its methodology be extended to other river basins.

These initiatives enable the project to complement institutionaldevelopment, and legal and formal environmental controls, withvoluntary action at the local level. In this way motivation is devolved,and local mechanisms are evolving which can maintain water qualityas new development pressures arise. The main outcome of these effortsis to create a pool of trained manpower in river basin management anda parallel network of local action. The result is a prototypical riverbasin management system which could be transferred to otherwatersheds.

Watershed management in the Harare regionThe project arose out of a concern that the rapid growth in populationand industrialisation in the area of Harare is degrading water quality


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in Lake Chivero (formerly Lake McIlwaine), the main source ofdrinking water for Harare, but downstream of the city. In particular,the rapid spread of an over one meter thick blanket of water hyacinthacross more than 40 per cent of the surface of the lake has generateda lot of concern about the need to sustain water quality.

The overall objective of the project is to develop a well coordinatedinstitutional mechanism for the management of the Harare watershedwhich would lead to a reduction in the amount of pollutants enteringthe water system. To achieve this aim the team engaged in threecomplementary activities: (1) information gathering and awarenesscampaign, (2) water quality monitoring, and (3) participation inactivities aimed at the water hyacinth problem. For a while, the ‘heat’generated by the water hyacinth issue threatened to overtake thebroader aims of the project, but advice from the network defused thisproblem.

The project team, recognising that neither urbanisation norindustrialisation were likely to abate, decided to expand from a focuson water quality monitoring to a positive stance of promotion ofwatershed management. They have therefore identified the mainagencies in central and local government with potential responsibility

Water hyacinth at the freshwater intake on Lake Chivero in Zimbabwe. The water hyacinthcovers more than 40 per cent of the surface of the Lake. It chokes spillways and hasripped out main water pipes for Harare. The hyacinth is seen as a symptom of pollutionproblems in the watershed, which stem in part from much-needed industrial developmentand rapid urban population growth. (photo: M. Carley)


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for watershed management; some of the major sources of pollution,in domestic and sewage waste and industrial effluents, from bothpublic and private companies; and the trends in population andindustrial growth likely to result in major environmental impacts. Ofthe latter, for example, major concerns include pollution caused by themain fertilizer plant for the country (partly government-owned, andseen as essential for a green revolution) and discharges from sewageworks of a rapidly growing and poorly planned town with low-costhousing near Harare, Chitungwisa, as a result of rural to urbanmigration.

The team initiated a project advisory group representing eightmain agencies with relevant responsibilities in the watershed area.They also reviewed the current legal and institutional framework forwatershed management, and documented gaps between adequatepolicy and law and inadequate implementation and enforcement. Theyhave developed a survey questionnaire designed, in their words, ‘tobe a tool for gathering information from relevant institutions, and asan awareness builder’. The questionnaire was piloted to senior agencyofficials, and the survey was carried out between August, 1990 andJanuary, 1991. This was immediately followed up with face to faceinterviews with key people in government and the industrial sector.

The occasion of an overall IDEA Programme meeting in Hararein 1990 was used by the project team as a springboard to launch amajor awareness campaign, including front page newspaper coverage,and to alert senior government officials in the industrial and financialdepartments of the need to reconcile industrialisation withenvironmental quality. The meeting served as the impetus for newlinkages between government officials and senior industrialists in theregion.

The project team and advisory group are now promoting athree-pronged effort to encourage enforcement of existing pollutioncontrol laws, to encourage the private sector to invest in pollutioncontrol and recycling technology, and to develop a co-ordinatedmanagerial system for water quality maintenance. In addition, havinginitiated direct communication between government, the researchsector and the business community, the project team is now in aposition to forge that incipient linkage into some effective mode ofinter-institutional collaboration.


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Watershed management in the Kafue Basin of ZambiaThe original concern of the National Council for Scientific Research,base of the project team, was over degrading water quality in the entireKafue River Basin, in spite of the existence of various laws forenvironmental protection and pollution control. The basin covers anestimated area of about 15000 sq. km. Although the problems of theentire watershed were well documented by the team, this provedunwieldy as a project, due to the great distances involved. Withassistance from the team leaders from Ghana and Zimbabwe, theZambian team decided therefore to redefine the scope of their projectto focus on problems on the lower Kafue River in the vicinity ofLusaka and in the mining area on the Copperbelt, where problems arisefrom direct pollution from inadequately treated raw sewage, industrialeffluents and agricultural run-off, as well as poor practices in solidwaste disposal.

One particular problem identified in these two areas is the failureof municipalities to maintain existing sewage treatment plants due tofinancial constraints and lack of skilled manpower arising from a10-15 year long economic recession in the country. This problem isexacerbated by high rates of urbanisation, currently about 6.7 per centgrowth annually, as well as lack of resources in the private sector forinvestment in pollution control technology and lack of personnel ingovernment agencies responsible for environmental monitoring.

Following detailed problem definition, the Zambian teamestablished an initial advisory group comprised of six relevantagencies, including government departments for Agriculture,Commerce and Industry, and Local Government, the NationalCommission for Development Planning, National Council forScientific Research, and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines. Thefirst meeting identified constraints on water quality improvementincluding the inability of relevant institutions to implement existinglegislation on environmental protection and pollution control, and lackof monitoring of industrial and sewage effluents.

The Advisory Committee then proceeded to organise RoundtableDiscussion meetings during May 1991 in both the lower and upperKafue areas. These brought together representatives of industry, localauthorities and central government agencies. The discussions focussedon environmental concerns and pollution risks, and a number ofaction-oriented recommendations were made.


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In connection with the development of inter-institutionalcoordination mechanisms, which was the main thrust of the project,the actions identified are:

establishment of a special committee of the National EnvironmentalCouncil (currently being established under the EnvironmentalProtection and Pollution Control Act of 1990) to specifically deal withpolicy issues of the Basin’s environment and development.

encouraging and promoting formation of community-basedenvironmental action associations to address issues of environmentalquality at grassroots level. One such association, the Kafue WaterUsers Association, has formed.

The project also brought to light the urgent need to generate aresources and environmental quality data base to facilitate periodicreviews of the state of the environment and environmental impactassessments of new development projects.

Finally the team identified as a major challenge the hugeinvestment required for rehabilitation and expansion of DistrictCouncil’s water treatment and distribution, sewage and solid refusecollection and disposal systems; training of skilled personnel in localand national government; installation of efficient treatmenttechnology in industry; and promoting public awareness onenvironmental issues.

Waste managementCooperative arrangement for wastewater treatment among small-scale industrialists in the Klang Valley in MalaysiaSince 1987, the manufacturing sector has emerged as the leadingeconomic sector in Malaysia, followed by the agricultural and miningsectors. The main manufactured products for export areelectrical/electronic goods, textiles and rubber-based products. Smallscale industries, sometimes called ‘backyard’ industries, play a majorrole in the industrialisation process of the Malaysian economy andaccount for about 90 per cent of employment in the manufacturingsector. These include metal finishers (anodizers, electroplaters andgalvanizers), textiles and the food industry.


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Following from the need to enforce standards for the discharge ofeffluents under existing Environmental Quality Regulations, a surveyin 1985 indicated that the metal finishers were a major source of toxicand hazardous wastes (acids and alkalis containing heavy metals suchas chromium, nickel and aluminium). The survey identified more than100 small-scale operators employing less than 20 people, of whichslightly more than half were located in the Klang Valley surroundingKuala Lumpur. These metal finishers produce items such as nuts andbolts for the automotive industry, components for the electrical andelectronic industries as well as various household utensils. As such,they play an important role in the industrialisation process.

It was recognised early in the project that, although strictenforcement of pollution control legislation was desirable, simplyputting the metal finishers out of business was not a viable option. Amore sophisticated response was necessary.

As noted, the IDEA team therefore redefined the problem as (1) apollution problem of contamination of the water system; (2) aneconomic problem of the viability of the enterprises, their contributionto industrial growth, the costs of waste metal removal from theeffluent; and whether communal treatment run co-operatively could

Industrial area near Kuala Lumpur, home to many small-scale or ‘backyard’ industries,important to Malaysia’s economic growth and a valuable source of employment, but alsopollutors with little spare money for pollution control technology. (photo: M. Carley)


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be cost-effective; (3) a land use problem of the incompatibility ofindustrial and residential uses;and (4) a spatial problem of whether torelocate the businesses near a waste treatment facility or to transportthe waste from the industries to a central facility. Figure A.1 illustratesthe management problems involved. Failure to comply with stipulatedeffluent discharge standards and to install pollution control measureswas generally linked with financial, technical and spatial constraints.The government, through the IDEA project, decided to promote acommon wastewater treatment facility, to be managed by acooperative of metal finishers

Figure 2


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The objectives of the country task were set out as follows:• Short term: determination of wastewater characteristics of the

industry as well as pollution load in the selected study area of theKlang Valley.

• Medium term: determination of measures acceptable to the metalfinishers and the various Government enforcement agencies incontrolling pollution, managing toxic and hazardous wastes, andpreventing nuisance to adjacent areas.

• Long term: proposal on cooperative arrangement for a commonwastewater treatment facility in the Klang Valley, andconsequently an enforcement in environmental quality.

The project team then established a Project Working Committeewhich includes relevant central and local departments, researchinstitutes, and most importantly, representatives of the metal finishers,formed into a newly established Metal Finishing Society. Howeverthese small businessmen were not used to any kind of cooperativeactivities, particularly with the public sector, and much developmentwork by the project team has been necessary, which continues. Fromthis a proposal has been developed for cooperative waste treatmentfacilities, with or without plant relocation.

Dr. Martin Odei, Director of the Institute of Aquatic Biology, CSIR, Ghana examineselectroplating facilities (a source of toxic metal pollution) in the Klang Valley, Malaysiaduring a meeting of the IDEA Programme. (photo: M. Carley)


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Tasks identified by the team include:• wastewater survey;• close monitoring of waste generation and disposal;• studying the economic role of small-scale metal finishers, their

future in relation to the development of the industrial sector, andthe impacts of closure;

• obtaining more information on the feasibility of other options forpollution control including relocation at suitable sites withadequate space for expansion of production and construction oftreatment facilities (common or individual basis) as well asshifting to ‘cleaner’ technology;

• recommending and implementing interim measures, acceptable toboth the industry and the enforcement agencies, to control andprevent further heavy metal pollution;

• developing engineering design of common wastewater treatmentfacility; and

• studying the legal aspects of a common treatment facility,including liability, as this is a novel approach towards pollutionabatement.

Like the projects in watershed management, the Malaysian projecthas generated a lot of interest because the problem of how to attemptto control small-scale industry is common to many countries. Theproject’s cooperative approach, both among the industrialists andbetween the public and the private sector, is undoubtedly innovative.The project has created a forum for facilitating communicationbetween the Department of Environment and related agencies, and themetal finishers. The metal finishers themselves formed the MalaysianMetal Finishing Society in July 1990. However the metal finishers’cooperative has yet to be established, and some of the backyardindustrialists remain decidedly uncooperative, which is in keepingwith their usual mode of individualistic, entrepreneurial behaviour.

The project team, in this case the government itself, is having tomake delicate decisions over whether to use the carrot of incentive anddialogue, or the stick of legal enforcement of pollution controlregulations. The current approach is to hold discussions with theremaining, uncooperative small-scale operators to explain to them theadvantages of joining the metal finishing cooperative for mitigationof pollution. It is an open and very interesting question whether agovernment department in charge of pollution control can work


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collaboratively with backyard industrialists for both economicdevelopment and pollution control, without the assistance of amediator from an outside party. This is a question which is now beingaddressed by the IDEA team.

Whatever the outcome, the project is already considered a successwithin the IDEA/CCGTM network for the fascinating informationbeing generated on the potential for public and private sectorcooperation towards sustainable development, and for furthering ourunderstanding of the perceptions of small-scale industrialists to theenvironmental management process.

Waste Management in Lagos MetropolisLagos metropolis, a sprawling city of around seven million people, ishome to numerous domestic and multinational industrial firms. About70 per cent of all industries in Nigeria are in Lagos, and very few havewaste treatment plant. The IDEA project focuses on the institutionalarrangements for waste management in Lagos State. To bound thestudy area further, the research decided to focus initially on IkejaMunicipality, one of the four main industrial areas in the state, withApapa, Iganmu and Ilupeju. In addition, Ikeja has a substantial residentpopulation of about one-quarter million and also contains a majorlandfill site of the Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (LSWDB). Ikejaprovided a pilot area within which to begin to understand the complexissues of waste disposal in the wider State.

The main governmental agencies with a responsibility for wasteinclude the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology(FMST), thenew Federal Environmental Protection Agency(FEPA), and the stategovernment, represented by the LSWDB. The complexity of what areevolving institutional arrangements initially caused delay in theimplementation of the project. In short, the project became abargaining counter between the two federal agencies attempting toestablish their roles in a rapid emerging area of public management.For a awhile, it was an open question as to whether there would be anytangible inter-institutional outcome. This however did not prevent theIDEA team, at that point within FMST, from undertaking backgroundanalysis on waste disposal in Lagos Metropolis, and in the study areaof Ikeja Municipality.

Subsequently, after the appointment by FMST of a neutral projectresearcher (a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the


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University of Lagos), further negotiation and a fruitful two dayseminar in May 1991, the project is making up for lost time. Thepurpose of the workshop was to examine the need for improvementsto the waste management system for Lagos Metropolis, variousagencies’ arrangements and responsibilities in this regard, and to forgea new, workable alliance among the agencies to tackle wastemanagement in an efficient manner under the auspices of the IDEAproject.

The inter-institutional aspects of the IDEA project have beencarried a long way forward. The 34 participants in the workshopincluded a number of representatives of FEPA, FMST and LSWDB,the Federal Ministry of Industry, the Federal Ministry of Education,the Municipality of Ikeja (Department of Health and EnvironmentalServices), the business sector including local representatives from thecompanies such as May and Baker plc (Rhone-Poulenc) and A JSeward Oregun and Co, the University of Lagos, the University ofCalabar, the National Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research(NIOMR), the National Centre for Genetic Research andBiotechnology, and the Commonwealth Fund for TechnicalCooperation (Industrial Development Unit).

Industry in the Ikeja area of Lagos Metropolis. Such industries are essential for economicdevelopment and employment in the region, but there are insufficient industrial wastetreatment and environmental monitoring systems in place to cope with effluents. (photo:M. Carley)


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During the early part of the seminar, each of the representedagencies stated their tasks and role in environmental control and wastemanagement, and their proposed plans for activities in the next fewyears. This portion of the meeting, like the rest, was characterised byunusually frank and productive discussion of views and importantissues.

In subsequent discussions, the seminar participants identified thefollowing issues as critical to improved waste management for theLagos Metropolis:• There is a reasonably good and improving system for solid

domestic waste management, but a lack of additional landfill sitesin Lagos State, an understandable ‘not in my backyard’ (NIMBY)attitude on the part of neighbouring State Governments andinsufficient technical capability for landfill site assessment. (Lackof available landfill sites was discussed as a common problem formany large cities in the world.)

• There is little or no system for monitoring and controlling toxic,liquid industrial wastes in the Lagos area. This is a seriousomission in the environmental control arrangements, and resultsin serious pollution in drains and open sewers leading into LagosLagoon.

• There are insufficient sewage treatment facilities, and this alsocontributes to pollution in the Lagoon. Given the near explosiverate of urban population growth, this is a serious problem.

• There are no widely agreed definitions and standards in Nigeriafor various kinds of wastes and pollutants. This makes accuratediscussion and analysis of the different kinds of waste disposalproblems difficult.

• Given current economic stringency, there is an importantrequirement for cost effectiveness in waste disposal, and to explorethe economic implications of options for commercialisation, jointtreatment facilities, user pays charging and local sourcing ofsupplies and replacement parts.

• It is seen as of primary importance to develop local managerialand technical capacity in all agencies instead of relying onexpensive outside consultants.

• There is a need to create and/or rationalise laboratory facilities,and to establish which agency, institute or university is best placedto fund and administer these for Lagos State.


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• There is a need to minimise the production of waste, and tounderpin all waste management strategies with public awarenesscampaigns and with close liaison with the business sector. Thecultural, technical and economic viability of recycling optionsneed to be explored.

• The business sector feels there is a lack of organisation amonggovernment agencies and levels of government as to factoryinspection. The result is too many unco-ordinated visits. (Theexample of integrated pollution control in the UK was discussed.)

• There is a need to look ahead a decade or more to anticipate thefuture industrial structure in Lagos State and anticipate changes inthe composition of wastes. Although the proportions of organicwastes are high by developed country standards, the proportion ofinorganic wastes is increasing steadily, mainly due to changes inpackaging.

• In Nigeria as a whole, policy and administrative systems forenvironmental management, and the relationship between Federaland State governments in this area, are evolving rapidly. Themeeting felt that waste management arrangements in Lagos State,and funding for these, could serve as a pilot for other states,especially those with large cities. FEPA confirmed that such ananalysis from the IDEA project would be very helpful to its owntask in establishing an environmental management structure forthe country.

• Other, more detailed, technical issues were also discussed, forexample, the condition of the three unused waste incinerationplants in Lagos, and the possibility of reopening a disused effluenttreatment plant in Ikeja. The CFTC representative noted that someCFTC funding might be available for technical analysis andfeasibility studies.

All the issues were summarised in a communique prepared by themeeting and agreed by all participants. In addition, each of theparticipating agencies agreed to appoint a representative to an IDEAProject Advisory Group, established immediately. It was also agreedthat, in addition to the agencies present, the Manufacturers Associationof Nigeria (MAN) would be invited to join that advisory group.

In summary, the meeting established new and productive modesof communication and co-ordination among the agencies with aninterest in waste disposal in Lagos Metropolis. It was agreed in


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particular that it was important that Lagos State could serve as a pilotproject for the evolving environmental control and waste managementarrangements in other states in Nigeria. Other objectives determinedby the Advisory Group include: to determine the pattern of wastedisposal in Ikeja, to harmonise institutional conflicts, to develop policyquidelines on waste disposal, and to highlight constraints andachievements in waste management in the paint industry in Ikeja toprovide a focus of good practice.

The Nigerian IDEA project is proving to be a fascinatingexploration of the organisation of environmental management andpollution control arrangements in a large, complex federal state.

Resource managementManagement of the coral sand resource in MauritiusAccelerated economic growth in Mauritius in the 1980s has beenaccompanied by a construction boom in offices, hotels and residentialdevelopments. More than 35 major tourist hotels now ring the islandand an 18 storey office block is one of a number of new offices underconstruction in the capital, Port Louis.

Such developments have put enormous pressure on the supply ofconstruction aggregates, both crushed basalt and natural coral sand.Inland coral sand deposits are virtually exhausted, resulting in anincreased amount of coral sand being extracted from the lagoons insidethe reefs, about 320,000 tonnes per year at present. This is havingdisruptive effects on the environment, including beach erosion,increased seawater turbidity, and disruption of the food chain in thelagoons. The coral sand resource cannot be managed in any sustainablefashion, as the replacement time for a few years extraction must bemeasured in centuries. The objective of the project therefore, is toencourage the use of replacement materials for coral sand inconstruction, as a critical step in the sustainable management of coastalresources.

The environmental implications of continued use of coral sand asa construction material are becoming known in Mauritius, but whenthe IDEA project began there was no consensus as to the nature orextent of the problem. Indeed some members of Parliament were stillurging increased exploitation of the resource as necessary foreconomic growth. Although replacement construction materials aretechnically and economically feasible, as demonstrated at the


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University of Mauritius, there were no appropriate institutionalarrangements for mediating the need for replacement constructionmaterial with the need for continuing economic growth anddevelopment. The project also noted conflicting interests withingovernment, and between government and the private sector. Insofaras lagoonal mining causes beach erosion, continued extraction of coralsand will have a negative impact on the tourist industry. This, alongwith pollution of lagoons from hotel effluent, suggest the need tomediate conflicting uses within some systematic framework formanagement of the coastal zone.

The IDEA team have documented the institutional and technicalaspects of the problem in great detail, and drawn together informationfrom all relevant published and on-going studies. A project steeringcommittee was established including almost all the main governmentministries, and representatives of important private sector firms andthe academic community. The IDEA team, with the steeringcommittee, embarked on a public awareness programme and asystematic assessment of the organisational and economic constraintson outright banning of coral sand extraction.

Piles of coral sand "mined" from the lagoon for use as a construction material in Mauritus.The environmental effects of mining this very limited resource include beach erosion,seawater turbidity and lagoonal food chain disruption. The IDEA project is analysing andpromoting basaltic subtitutes from on-shore sources. (photo: M. Carley)


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They have also embarked on a programme to encourage theconstruction and aggregate industries to make use of replacements ona voluntary basis, and are assisting in the retraining of builders toaccommodate the new materials to that effect.

Of particular interest in terms of project output is the recent factthat in April, 1991 the government’s Ministry of Lands andEnvironment, which declined to join the advisory group in 1989, hasestablished a Technical Committee for ‘Phasing out the use of coralsand by 1993’, with a very similar terms of reference to that of theIDEA Steering Committee. The Technical Committee has invited theUniversity to participate, and has indicated that the final report of theIDEA project will serve as a working document for the Committee.The IDEA Team Leader summarises the situation:

The (IDEA) Steering Committee is being viewed as having the taskof making a study of the coral sand problem and making appropriaterecommendations for alternatives, whereas the Ministry ofEnvironment Committee will have as a major priority theimplementation and enforcement of such recommendations. In anycase, the setting up of the Ministry Committee is indicative ofincreased awareness of the coral sand problem among the relevantauthorities.

This institutionalisation of the environmental problem firstaddressed by the IDEA project in Mauritius constitutes a mostsatisfactory outcome, and indicates the effectiveness of the temporary‘parallel organisation’ which can serve to focus action on an importantenvironmental issue.

Resource management and environmental control in GuyanaGold mining in Guyana is mainly carried out by individuals and small,mainly family groups. There are about 5000 miners. The main methodof gold extraction utilised by Guyanese gold miners involves atechnology called ‘missile dredges’ capable of mechanically dredgingriver banks and cutting as far as 70 metres into the foreshore.

Serious environmental impacts have resulted from missiledredging. Tailings form small islands which interfere with navigation.The missiles often change the contour of the river bank and causeserious downstream turbidity. There are serious social impacts,including disruption of navigation and traditional food fishingactivities of local, mainly Amerindian, residents of the areas, and thedegradation of their drinking water.


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Such disruption has been documented in the Pakaraima and UpperMazaruni Mountains, a rainforested area which is home to theAkawaio Indians. Waterways provide the main thoroughfare in thearea and many of these are already blocked. Fish are unable to spawnas their breeding grounds are destroyed by the dredgers, whoseoperations are reported to render water undrinkable 60 kmdownstream. Recently in Guyana there has been increasing politicaland public awareness of the environmental damage caused by thisform of mining, and a concern to exert control over this and all otherenvironmentally damaging forms of gold mining.

In gain a mining licence, there is currently a requirement for theminer to take such action as necessary for soil conservation, to controlwater and air pollution, and to reforest affected areas. However thereare no statutory requirements for environmental impact assessmentsnor for any consultations between the government agency concernedwith mining licences and the environmental agency. To rectify thisdeficiency the project team established the following objectives:• National: to ensure that environmental considerations are an

essential and integral part of sustainable national economicdevelopment objectives.

• Immediate: to promote greater cooperation among, and strengtheninstitutional capability of, the agencies involved in the protectionand development of natural resources through a study of goldmining projects.

The project team, led by the head of the government’s agency forenvironment, decided that the project should first tackle the absenceof any environmental legislation for Guyana which would give thegovernment some authority for action. This attention to the problemsof gold mining, and the need for inter-agency cooperation to addressit, would then have spillover benefits which would ripple throughoutthe government’s approach to environmental policy. To this end boththe Geology and Mines Commission and the Guyana Agency forHealth Education, Environment and Food Policy (GAHEF)collaborated to address the problem.

The Guyana team leader drew up a draft environmental protectionbill for the country. He then sought the assistance of the IDEAprogramme in refining that legislation and in assessing the manysubstantial institutional and administrative implications of this. TheIDEA programme provided both general advice on environmental


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policy and legislation in member countries, from members of thenetwork, and specialist legal advice in drafting acceptable and usefullegislation in a Commonwealth context. As a result of these activitiesthe Guyana Environmental Protection Act is now before the GuyaneseCabinet.

Having secured legislative authority for environmental protectionand control, the IDEA team is turning its attention to the difficult taskof developing the necessary conditions for the successfulimplementation of environmental policy. Six areas are under focus:the need for acceptable standards of environmental quality, the needfor environmental monitoring staff and laboratory facilities, the needfor guidelines and expertise in environmental impact assessment, theneed to review the institutional structure for pollution andenvironmental control, training to meet the human resourcerequirements, and the need for financial resources in a severelyconstrained economy.

Through IDEA, the experiences of other countries in the settingof standards and in environmental monitoring are being examined. Inaddition, linkages within Guyana have been established with anagency with competence in monitoring, theMahaica-Mahaicony-Abary Agricultural Development Authority.The MMA-ADA has been funded for a number of years by theInter-American Development Bank to develop environmentalmonitoring expertise relevant to that agricultural project. To this endit has initiated, through its Environmental Monitoring and ControlUnit, on-the-job training of environmental field technicians. In thisprogramme secondary school graduates in relevant science disciplineshave been trained in various aspects of monitoring including waterquality, wildlife, fisheries, vegetation and spatial monitoring. It isexpected that the expertise developed through this training programmewill be shared with GAHEF.

Guidelines for EIA in gold mining have been developed byGAHEF for discussion with the Geology and Mines Commission andother appropriate agencies. Data obtained from a survey is intendedto help indicate the adequacy of the institutional structures for dealingwith pollution control and of the legislative framework, and the typesof regulations required. Finally, training needs are being documentedand priorities established prior to attempting to secure the necessaryresources.


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In considering the question of training and the broader issue ofhuman resource capability in Guyana, the project is beginning toaddress a fundamental constraint on environmental management inthat country, which is the pervasive brain drain overseas of many ofthe country’s skilled professionals and technicians. This evolution ofthe project focus from the initial, specific environmental problem to ageneric institutional problem (gold mining-environmentallegislation-implementation capability) is typical of the achievementsof a number of IDEA projects in broadening their attention to majorconstraints on environmental management and sustainabledevelopment. This is at a pace, as noted, which is socially andpolitically sustainable for that country. By attempting to unlock thoseconstraints the lessons and the achievements of the specific IDEAprojects become replicable for other environmental problem areas.


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Documents

2. Description and Evaluation of the IDEA Projects - … in development... · 2. Description and Evaluation of the IDEA Projects The IDEA projects have been extensively documented