10/07/2026
Minister of Natural Resources, Honourable Patricia Wiskes, MP, says environmental regulations are not intended to frustrate investment but rather to ensure that development proceeds safely, responsibly, and in a manner that protects the lives and health of Malawians.
The minister said this in Parliament on Thursday when she delivered a Ministerial Statement regarding the matter concerning the proposed Mulalo Granular Fertiliser Production Factory in Mchemela, Dowa District, which has been the subject of deliberation in the Honourable House.
Honourable Wiskes said the government remains firmly committed to industrialisation, value addition, and agricultural transformation and that the establishment of a fertiliser manufacturing plant represents an important investment with the potential to reduce import dependence, create employment, promote value addition, and strengthen national food security.
However, she said every development project, regardless of its economic importance, must comply with the provisions of the Environment Management Act before implementation.
โEnvironmental clearance is therefore not a political decision. It is a legal and technical process undertaken by an independent statutory regulator whose responsibility is to ensure that development proceeds without compromising public health, environmental sustainability, and the rights and livelihoods of surrounding communities.
โThe documented chronology therefore demonstrates that MEPA processed every submission placed before it within the prescribed timelines. The principal delay in this matter arose because the developer had not submitted the revised ESIA Report required for the review process to continue,โ she said.
The minister then added that the technical review further identified concerns regarding the use of corrosive chemicals in the manufacturing process, the management of phosphogypsumโa highly acidic by-product that may contain heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive materialsโthe protection of nearby water resources, particularly the Kangโona River, and the absence of adequate evacuation routes, emergency assembly points, firefighting arrangements, and other critical emergency infrastructure.
โHad these issues not been adequately addressed before approval, they had the potential to expose surrounding communities and downstream users to serious environmental and public health risks.
โThe evidence before my Ministry demonstrates that MEPA did not delay this project. The Authority acted within its statutory timelines whenever the developer submitted the required documentation,โ said the minister.
The minister therefore said the Technical Committee of the MEPA Board met on 22nd June 2026 and was satisfied that the principal environmental and technical concerns previously raised had been adequately addressed, and that the Committee thereafter referred the matter to the MEPA Board for consideration in accordance with the law.
