Persons across the country seeking access to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) services will soon be able to do so since the agency is collaborating with Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) and ministries for “desk space.”
Head of the EPA, Dr Vincent Adams, told Sunday Stabroek in an interview last week that EPA offices will also not close for lunch breaks to maximise on serving the public. “We opened an office in New Amsterdam and we expect to soon open one in Linden. The agency has also sent out requests to RDCs to ask if they can provide a space for us to work, maybe once a month. I am working with sister agencies in the same regard, for their assistance. We believe that rather than have persons travel to Georgetown, and I think in some cases, it costs them more in travel than fees, that it is better for us to go to them. We are increasing the fees also so it might not be too permissible on them if they have to pay new fees and come so far,” Adams said.
“The most important thing is serving the community; serving the people. This is where we have made significant progress over the past few months and are working to optimise on that, as we reorganise the agency. There is, I believe, a significant change in the morale of the work employees, they understand that they are [there] to serve the people and that is the culture we are inculcating. As part of this, not only in Georgetown but the entire country, we will be opened all day. There is no lunch break closure. I came here and I saw people arrive at lunch and we are shut and they have to wait an entire hour. That had to stop,” Adams added.
He said that the staff did not mind working on a rotation system to accommodate this new policy and when they arrive in the morning, they understand that they are working for taxpayers and “it is the taxpayers who are their bosses.”
Meanwhile, Adams disclosed that knowing Guyana’s limitations in the oversight of the petroleum sector, the World Bank has stepped in to help. Through the World Bank, Carlos de Regules, the man who spearheaded Mexico’s Agency for Security, Energy and the Environment (ASEA), is now serving as a consultant, in an arrangement facilitated by the Department of Energy (DoE).
“Mr De Regules is currently undertaking a gap analysis of the EPA and will make recommendations…he is here working with me, through the DoE. The funding came through the DoE and what basically he is doing is developing this gap analysis to identify the talents needed and down to the details of funding what we will need, what is the structure necessary for managing the petroleum industry and those things,” Adams said.
“Already, we have identified that the staff needs more exposure and we have [been] working on that, even as he plans. My staff are going to international conferences where they can also get the opportunity to network. So, in the meantime, we have more exposure, more training, as we find funding to provide sustainable oversight necessary,” he added.
A US Department of Energy top official for many years, Adams said that there is a sensitivity among some persons that bringing persons from the diaspora would rob Guyana’s youth of the opportunity to advance. He said that this should not be, as there should be discussions with this country’s youth on plans that would see transfer of knowledge from the old to the young, over a specified period.
Only recently, at the commissioning of the EPA’s Berbice office, then Minister of State Joseph Harmon lauded and thanked Adams’ for returning to Guyana to give back, as Harmon expressed that government “could not afford” to pay Adams the equivalent he made working in the US.
Calling on others to follow suit, Harmon said he knows that many in diaspora want to return to serve their homeland and he wanted them to know that government is prepared to welcome them.
And while the EPA does not have the staffing needed, it is preparing the infrastructure since the agency already has a newly constructed head office at its Sophia location.
Only recently, the agency advertised for bids for the provision of 51 cubicles to be outfitted in the new building. “We are expanding our footprint. That tender was for cubicles for the office here but as I said, we are going out to remote areas to meet the people. We are continuing to look at ways to help mitigate the inconvenience and costly travel of the public as we (improve) our agency,” he said.
“We are changing the mindset and purpose of (the) mission of the EPA, which is to serve the people of Guyana, businesses that operate here and anyone needing information from us. We want to bring not just oversight of the environment but a workplace and environment that people would feel comfortable coming to and most importantly, I am very encouraged by the enthusiasm and dedication of the staff to serve the people,” he added.
