By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy, announced on 3 October that the draft terms of reference to establish the multi-stakeholder forum in line with the recommendation of the Portfolio Committee during its visit to the site in August had been developed to ensure that affected communities are fully briefed on all developments.
The proposed forum will: Be inclusive and representative of all stakeholders; Create an environment for interested and affected parties engage meaningfully with each other, the authorities and UPL and make coordinated input into all relevant processes, studies and investigations being undertaken on all aspects of the pollution incident.
It will also maintain a repository of all relevant information, including all reports generated during the compliance and clean-up processes, past, present and future and manage independently of government and UPL by a committee chosen by stakeholders.