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Govt. says process to get permits at EPA, other state agencies easier now
Kaieteur News – As the integrity of Guyana’s environmental regulator remains under question, the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat has made it clear that the government had to take steps to make the granting of permits easier, to allow the free flow of business and revenue in the country.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
Bharrat specifically pointed out that this was the case at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) as well as the regional authorities, such as City Hall.
“We had to ensure that the permitting process was not as cumbersome or not as tedious as it used to be in the past without jeopardizing the integrity or without compromising anything to ensure we fast track the approval of development coming to our country,” the Minister said at a Local Content workshop on Tuesday.
He explained that it is important that the permitting process does not serve as a hindrance to development, adding that when the People’s Progressive Party / Civic (PPP/C) took office in August 2020, hundreds of millions were tied up by the agencies, which he alluded to earlier.
Moreover, he said the decision to fast track permits was particularly important since foreign investors always check on the length of time a permit takes to be approved. According to him, “…anywhere in the world that you go, anywhere you go to an investment forum that is the first question that is asked by investors; how is the permitting process in the country? Is it difficult to startup in the country?”
Further, as the government seeks to speed up the permitting process to invite investment from foreign companies, Bharrat said the Single Window System would be soon introduced to aid businesses in getting registered and accessing approvals in a simple and timely manner.
Even as the government is proud to announce the fast-tracking of the permit process to allow development to take place in the country, the chain effect has been devastating to some sectors, particularly the fishing industry so far. This is so as fishermen in Guyana have been complaining of their daily struggle to keep their heads above the water, as the cost for their operations versus their catch, continues to create worry. Although the administration has often said the oil and gas business did not cause the decline in fish catches, some analysts have already called out the EPA for allowing fundamental breaches to Guyana’s laws when it comes to the permits, most of which have fallen on deaf ears.
For instance, environmentalist Simone Mangal-Joly has specifically pointed to the lack of baseline studies to inform oil giant ExxonMobil’s offshore operations. This study would highlight the breeding grounds for the various species of fish and include other scientific data to simply guide the company, rather than stop it from operating.
In the absence of these and other credible data, to lay the basis for the environmental permits to the oil company, she said she is convinced that the EPA was like an asylum.
Mangal was adamant in a former interview that, “we have not really done right by the fisheries; we never really examined what really are the underlying causes for the decline in the fisheries sector and you cannot have a massive oil industry that’s sitting offshore and assume that it‘s not culpable. I mean, you would have to have sufficient data to look at the causes but it is well documented in the scientific literature that seismic surveys are damaging marine life. So you can’t discount this.”
She referenced the fact that she objected to a series of EIAs that the regulator has waived to date, before concluding, “This agency is a mess; it is like an asylum that is being run by its inmates.”
In this regard, the environmentalist said there is need for the EPA to up the ante and ensure public and environmental safety of Guyana is safeguarded.
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