Though Guyana has begun production of oil, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) still does not have the minimum resources needed to monitor the sector 24/7 and will have to rely on the operators to take them out to sea if required, Head of the Agency Dr. Vincent Adams yesterday said.
Adams’ stark warning underlines the government’s failure to fully equip the EPA for its oil and gas tasks even though it has had four and a half years to do this. Numerous warnings had been issued to the government over the past years by non-government organisations.
And with the current political situation and upcoming General and Regional Elections, the EPA does not believe it will be ready before the end of this year as its proposed budget cannot be granted until after the 2020 National Budget is read.
