Sectoral Evaluation of EIA Practice in the Sudan

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports of projects in different development sectors in Sudan (Agriculture, Roads and highways, Power generation, Oil production, River engineering projects) were analyzed to investigate how these studies corresponded with the local, regional, international and good practice requirements. The results of the analysis illustrated some variations in the practice among the different sectors. Most of the practices failed in some major areas of EIA such as: timing of EIA in the project cycle, alternative analysis, limited tools applied which in most cases were insufficient for specific projects, EMP in most cases was not complete and was not considered in the cost-benefit analysis, monitoring plan, poor public participations and bad interaction with the decision making process. Generic EIA report review process devaluated the monitoring plan and sustainability of the EIA mitigations. Advantageously, EIA practice is becoming more popular in Sudanese development planning and there are lots of arguments about enhancing the legislation and regulations. However, common obstructions facing implementation of best EIA practices and compatibility with international norms are; the legal, institutional and administrative frameworks; shortcoming of expert agencies and specialists, and other difficulties related to the data collection and measurement.