06 January 2015
NEMC builds road to court for Tanga Cement 06 January 2015
Tanzania: The National Environment Management Council (NEMC) has vowed to take Tanga Cement to task over allegations of importing thousands of tonnes of hazardous materials. The official environmental overseers allege that Tanga Cement Company Ltd (TCCL) has been importing thermal coal from South Africa in violation of a 10-year-old law that bans an individual or company from importing hazardous materials unless authorised by the NEMC. NEMC officials believe that TCCL's coal is an environmental hazard because it was imported from South Africa, not only without their knowledge, but also without their consent.
"We don't have anything personal, we just want them to abide by the law," said NEMC environment officer Magori Wambura. He added that TCCL had not only ignored the marine conservation laws, but also the government and the public it serves. "We'll take this issue seriously until we make sure they are punished," said Wambura. The NEMC has the power to revoke operational permits for the violating organisations, to settle environmental disputes and to file civil and criminal cases in the court of law.
Legal counsellor John Mnyele from the environmental monitoring council in Tanga said that they would also take TCCL to task for violating the agreement that it had signed with another State environmental monitoring offshoot, the Environment and Social Management Plan (ESMP) on the purchase of coal. Mnyele said that the agreement restricted TCCL's import of coal, limiting it to the use of thermal energy from Kiwira Coal Mines in Mbeya and other sources from Ruvuma region. Mining experts say there are about 1Bnt of coal reserves in southern Tanzania alone.
Holcim and Cemex close transactions in Europe 06 January 2015
Europe: Holcim and Cemex have announced the successful closure of a series of transactions in Europe.
Holcim has acquired Cemex's operations in western Germany and the Netherlands, while Cemex has taken over Holcim Czech Republic with all of its subsidiaries in that country. In Spain, Cemex has purchased Holcim's Gador cement plant and Yeles grinding station, while Holcim keeps its remaining operations.
As a result of the transactions, Cemex paid Holcim Euro45m in cash. Holcim expects sustainable additional operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of at least Euro10m/yr.