THE agency wishes to clarify several subject matters which the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2012 Annual Report has highlighted. The Annual Report served as a reporting mechanism against its work programme, which identified both achievements and challenges for the year 2012. In light of the aforesaid, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) has recognised the challenges and has since implemented and recommended a series of actions to address these matters.

With regard to staffing, the agency wishes to advise that at present, 98 percent (98 %) of the staff positions under its various programmes have been filled. The newspaper could have presented this updated information to the public had it taken the time to verify this with the agency.
According to the article, a number of staff were assigned by the MNRE to its head office. The agency would like to further clarify this statement by explaining that the former Director of the Natural Resource Management Division (NRMD) is currently the Commissioner of the Protected Area Commission (PAC), while the coordinator of the Pick-up Campaign is currently housed at the ministry to better facilitate coordination among its sister agencies.
As it relates to the current Environmental Management Division, MNRE has since given its no-objection to split the division into 1) Permitting, and 2) Compliance Divisions, both of which have independent Directors and staff to manage their affairs. In addition, the MNRE and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in August 2013 signed a grant agreement for the drafting of the Agency’s Compliance and Environmental Regulations in support of the EPA’s Act (1996) to give the Compliance Division more teeth and to strengthen the overall capacity of the EPA.
The MNRE has recognised and recommended that there is need for an in-house legal officer because of the number of cases engaging legal attention in the courts. As such, the ministry has given the agency permission to recruit a legal officer who has already been hired, thus strengthening the capacity of the EPA to take action against persons who infringe on the EPA Act.
The newspaper article reported on the agency conducting extensive monitoring assessments in 2012, which have only continued to increase in 2013. As a result, the ministry has endorsed the proposal for the EPA to establish a Water Quality Unit for which new testing instruments are being procured.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has recognised that there is an increasing demand for the services of the EPA and that it has been somewhat lacking in capacity to effectively achieve its mandate. For that reason,the MNRE has since engaged with the EPA and an international consultant to draft a proposal to 1) investigate means to strengthen the EPA, 2) improve cost-recovery mechanisms, and 3) improve staff retention.
The EPA encourages Stabroek News to continue to show interest in its valuable work towards addressing environmental compliance in Guyana.

EPA