The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to meet with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Cabinet separately as it seeks to forge closer collaboration with the policy-makers to foster development while at the same time protect the environment.

Newly-appointed chairman of the EPA, Jesuit priest, Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues told Stabroek News in a recent interview that there has always been "an area of tension" between the policies laid down for the EPA and its thrust combined with the resources available to fulfill the agency's mandate. The policies of the EPA are made at the government level.

"Our mandate is (to protect) the environment and, of course, we have to take into account when we manage the environment to ensure development is not impeded," Fr. Rodrigues said.

He stated on the other hand, the EPA also has to ensure that development is not done in a manner to soil the environment.

"The link with the policy-makers is there and I intend as the new chairman to forge that to ensure the ministers are in touch with us as we try to work out the best way of serving the nation and to preserve the environment for future use," he stated.

"We have to have some sort of clear connection with the policy- makers. So when the policy-makers go in a big way for say for example eco-tourism, while that is good the EPA has a voice in that especially with respect to sustainability of the eco-system," he said.

He noted that the more persons brought into an area the more pressure is brought to bear on the eco-system. Using the eco-tourism industry as an example, Fr. Rodrigues said while the EPA is much in favour, it must be able to do an assessment on its impact and advise the relevant agencies and make recommendations accordingly.

He said there may be a case for some particular locations where closed seasons for eco-tourism could be recommended to allow the environment to recover.

Inter-agency collaboration is key to development and environmental protection going hand-in-hand. "I would say however at this juncture the EPA is not meant to be an isolated unit within the domain of the government, it is really meant to work closely with every other agency," Fr. Rodrigues said. "There is no area which could be excluded from having an impact on the environment."

"I'm willing to accept that it (development and environmental protection) is always an area of tension but we talk through and we try to fulfill the mandate with the resources that we have at hand," he stated.

He said: "We have to try to maintain the tension to stay manageable...that we don't allow one to jeopardise the other. We would always struggle to make sure the environment does not become an impediment to development and, quite rightly, we cannot allow development to become a tool of degradation to the environment. We have to hold the two in balance."

The EPA chairman noted that both human and financial resources were important aspects of the agency. He said there were many who graduated from university and worked in various positions at the EPA but stressed the need for more training for them to effectively carry out their functions.

He revealed that the EPA budgeted for staff development so that the needs of the agency could be better satisfied at the local level rather than having to bring in consultants from overseas.

The financial resources would also be used to offset expenses incurred in acquiring equipment, pay transportation costs where interior trips are a major component, and attend regional and international conferences to keep abreast of what is happening around the world.

Rodrigues noted that the other CARICOM countries experienced phenomena like hurricanes and volcanoes so they would focus more on disaster preparedness.

However, he pointed out, Guyana is free of these natural disasters but the phenomena do bring about climate change which has an effect on the sea level that would ultimately impact on Guyana.

"We could have tremendous problems especially given the fact that about 90% of the population live along the coast," he said.

He explained that this perspective has to be taken to the international forum by Guyana and other such countries below sea level, since the others would be pursuing their own agenda, so the problems could be tackled collectively.

One of the key functions of the EPA is to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIA) or environmental reviews on proposed projects to determine their impacts on the environment and to recommend mitigation if necessary.

The EPA determines whether a project should be granted approval to go ahead based on the EIA or environmental review.

"Strictly speaking, a project should not start until this process is completed," Rodrigues said. He acknowledged there were some projects which "jump the gun" and cessation orders have to be sought from the court.

He explained that projects of large dimensions which could have much impact on the environment were subjected to an EIA in order to obtain an environmental permit.

Those of a small scale only require an environmental review. He stated that an EIA was important for large projects because if this is not done there is no prior knowledge on what could potentially happen to the environment.

Rodrigues said the EPA could be described as a highly developed agency with the board now being more aware of the problems it has to deal with in the real situation.

One problem he singled out was that of solid waste disposal.

He stated that this problem is not found only within Georgetown but a drive along the roads in some of the regions would reveal a similar situation. He said the EPA was willing to assist the regional and village councils with the problem and will be pressing to find solutions.

Rodrigues said he would like to see much more interaction between the EPA and the agencies. There should also be more engagement with the public in seeking solutions to the problems faced-one such being garbage disposal.

Touching a little on legislation, he said there would always be the need for updating the regulations and the penalties attached to them.

He pointed out that sometimes a limit was put on some penalties but this proved to be inadequate as time moved on.

"The enforcement mechanisms and the penalties attached to it will have to be looked at to ensure they are realistic," he said.