No extra money from gov’t for EPA

-agency to begin hiking fees this year

Winston Jordan
Winston Jordan

Even if government wanted to go to parliament for supplemental funds for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to meet its 2019 proposed budgetary needs, it cannot because of the effects of the no-confidence motion, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan says.

Jordan said that rather than wait until next year, the EPA should begin immediate plans to hike fees since there is ample justification, given that it has been at the same paltry amounts for over two decades, and an increase only requires approval from the agency’s Board.

“He has to accelerate that process because I don’t have any money. As you well know, even if I did, the circumstances under which we are precludes me. We can’t even carry a financial [paper] to the parliament [now]. So where am I going to get the money?” he asked.

Dr. Vincent Adams

“People have to understand reality and stop shouting this and shouting that. That is the reality. Even if we had the money, we could not carry a financial bill to the National Assembly at this time. They have to deal with what they have to deal with. He is lucky he is in a scenario where it just requires his board to give him permission to up the fees,” he added.

Short on the funding and staff needed to ensure its ability to monitor for compliance, Head of the EPA Dr Vincent Adams had told this newspaper that the agency plans to hike fees for permits and services. This will begin this year.

The EPA’s current fees, which have not been adjusted for over two decades, have been labelled “chicken feed” by Jordan and it was he who had urged that the agency revise them to meet its financial needs.

Adams has said that the agency lacks the resources to meet the requirements needed to undertake a lot of the oversight work it is required to do. And with oil and gas production to begin next year coupled with the fact that this country is expected to become one of the top global producers of oil, the EPA believes that ample resources are essential.

“I asked for an update on all permits and it was discovered that nearly 900 permits had expired. That means we have nearly 900 operations just ongoing with no oversight. We do not know who is doing what. As you know, we currently have – and have had for the longest – a shortage of staff. We asked for increases in staffing and for the salaries of employees but was told that government doesn’t have and we should be innovative and find ways of meeting that need. We were told too that the fees we charge is chicken feed and needs revising. The funding for 2019 staff has also been cut by half,” Adams told Stabroek News in an interview late last month.

“Minister Jordan was correct and I’m glad he lit this fire under us. How-ever, we cannot do this in a month or a year, so it is a process and we will be increasing the fees to get the needed finance for the equipment and personnel that is needed here. We hope to by next year, increase the fees for permits and other services. Those haven’t seen an increase since 1996. We have an agency that has to be grounded in science and we don’t have a single engineer, hydrologist, petroleum engineer and the likes. We have to get our act together now, more so that we will from next year be an oil producing country and that is a sector that requires strict monitoring,” he added.

He later clarified that he meant that the fees will be increased from this year and that by next year, the agency can “be at least in the minimum, where I believe it should.”

Adams said that since taking up the post late last year, he has been doing an overall analysis of the agency and is shocked, not only at the composition of the 97-member staff, but also at the fact that that the agency cannot provide even basic materials to its employees.

 

‘Outside the box’

He also explained that he began working at the agency at a time when the Ministry of Finance had already asked agencies to supply its budgetary proposals and new to the affairs of the EPA, he did not know “what they had or did not have in terms of everything.”

Nonetheless, he submitted to Minister of State Joseph Harmon, a proposal of basic needs for the agency and explanations on why they were needed.

But the Finance Minis-try informed that it could not meet the entire financial requisition and under the line item subheading ‘Personnel’ in the 2019 Budget, he was given half the amount.

While the amount would not interfere with current staffing and is more than it was in 2018, it is not enough to pay for the expert technical positions that the EPA requires.

Jordan said he read the article with Adams’ interview and was perplexed as to why Adams would wait until 2020 to increase the fees when the agency had a pressing need.

“I saw a long interview with the Executive Direc-tor Dr Adams…and he correctly quoted what I said, which is the monies quoted by parliament is all that we have and he must think outside of the box and one of the thinking is that their fees are old. He should start on that front because there are substantial environmental things that they have to oversight and permits that they have including Exxon and all of these places. And for them to be complaining and all of these about not getting monies is well you know. I don’t know how he said he wants to do it from 2020 when he needs money now,” the Finance Minister said.

Adams yesterday said that Jordan is correct and he will be taking fees hike proposals to the board “soon” but would not give an exact date.

However, he explained that when he does and a decision is made, the press will be made aware.

Further, he informed that his agency last week put out a notice for expressions of interest, with specific job portfolios listed, so that interested person could submit. He explain-ed that although he is optimistic that some of the positions would be taken up by locals, he believes that many of them might have to be filled by persons from out of Guyana.

In that notice for career opportunities at the EPA, the agency listed jobs in engineering including fields such as geological, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, environmental, geologist, geo-hydrologist, petroleum, mining and chemist and physics. The EPA is also seeking persons for project management and environmental law. The closing date for all expressions of interest is March 15th 2019 at 4:30 pm local time.

Adams wants his prospective employees to know that they will be offered competitive salaries, growth opportunities and mentorships as the agency simultaneously works to build a model agency and working environment.