The national Department of Environment and Tourism has a backlog of 1 075 applications awaiting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) decisions, according to a report in Business Report.

The department said this week that it did not know how far back the backlogs were dated and that there was a national shortage of EIA officers. Mava Scott, the acting head of communications, said it had spent more than R5m in the past year outsourcing to consultants to deal with pending applications. Last year, the provinces catered for 250 officers to deal with EIAs, but 30% of these positions stood vacant, Scott said. KwaZulu-Natal was the province with the highest vacancies. The shortage of EIA officers is caused by a high rate of development, which has resulted in great demand for qualified EIA officers. He said accredited training in EIA administration was being developed and the first course would take place in February.
Full report in Business Report