HEAD of the Department of the Environment (DoE), Ndibi Schwiers on Monday disclosed that a US$2.4M project to strengthen technical capacities to monitor the RIO Convention is being undertaken by her unit, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

To this end, several workshops and awareness sessions have been successfully conducted with over 400 participants from Government agencies and the private sector. Thus far, the DoE has been able to recruit its full complement of local consultants to kick-start this year’s work programme.

Schwiers said the big task for the entity, which was established in 2016, was the filling of staff vacancies to ensure that the right skills are available for the effective execution of its duty of coordinating and integrating the country’s environmental mandate. The DoE is also tasked with leading the Government efforts in relation to the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) and is working with the UN Environment which is Guyana’s partner in developing the strategy, Schwiers noted.

Providing an update on the progress of the development of the GSDS, the department head noted that several rounds of consultations have been hosted across the country and that the department has been successful in starting what has been dubbed as “green conversations,” which are intended to fill the awareness gap.

“One of the things we have realised is it is easy to develop a strategy… we can sit in our offices and write but that won’t be the best thing to do. What we have realised, is that this strategy needs to be developed at various levels and one of the things would be to have consultations and ensure that there is a certain level of awareness,” Schwiers said.

The Coordination Desk of the DoE is working along with the Ministries of Communities, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs to create a consultation plan. The next steps, according to Schwiers, would be research and drafting of the document. To do this, the department has developed seven thematic groups which coincide with the seven thematic areas of the GSDS. The University of Guyana is also playing an instrumental role in this process, as its representatives are tasked with identifying seven thematic experts, who will assist the groups in drafting various thematic elements of the GSDS.

Schwiers informed that a meeting of the Advisory Group of the GSDS, which consists of the Chairs and Co-chairs of the seven thematic areas, is scheduled for January 25, 2018, to facilitate further discussions. The DoE will also be focusing this year on an in-depth programme review of the EPA, harmonising environmental management countrywide and development of its strategic plan.

The job of the department, Schwiers assured, is not to usurp the functions of the four agencies under its purview, which are the National Parks Commission, the Protected Areas Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Guyana Wildlife Conservation and Management Commission, but to support them.

In this vein, State Minister, Joseph Harmon urged heads of the respective agencies to focus on their objectives for 2018, and how they can adequately execute them placing greater emphasis on inter-agency support and collaborations. Minister Harmon pointed out that the administration has been laying budgets in the National Assembly the year before their expenditure, and agencies are given the opportunity to prepare their sectoral plans in advance, thus it is customary now for the execution of work programmes to begin from January 1 of the new year.

Heads of agencies were commended for their efficiency in completing projects despite having to stick to stringent budgets. They urged to examine those “factors that impact on the work we have to do as a sector…I believe we are more in the regulatory framework than any other department because whatever happens in the environment if something goes wrong, we are the ones that people will look to.”

Responding to the challenges faced by the various agencies, Minister Harmon assured that in those areas that require assistance, an immediate intervention will be made. To this end he urged that should issues surface, the matters must be brought to his attention immediately to ensure a timely resolution thus allowing for the efficient functioning of all the entities. (DPI)