President Bharrat Jagdeo has urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to get involved in the enhancement of the country as that role falls within the ambit of the agency. A release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said Jagdeo, on a tour of the National Zoological Park on Friday, declared that “when we crafted the legislation to set up the EPA, we did not just look at them giving approval or permits for environmental impact assessments and reviewing those but also to take action against people who are defaulting in the industrial sector as well as littering.” Jagdeo was at the time speaking of government’s move to enhance the country’s aesthetics and cultivate a culture of environmental awareness. The president said that although there are tough anti-littering laws these are not being enforced. “They have a very strong piece of legislation and if they were to use it we can prevent a lot of littering. For some types there are fines up to $80,000 and that is provided for by the legislation,” he said.

Jagdeo also said he discussed with the head at the EPA the agency taking a stronger role in the clean-up activities. “I spoke to him about the EPA taking a stronger position on these matters