The EPA is cracking down on environmental criminals

By
Albert Yaw Ansah, RNG

Accra, April 26th, GNA –
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday its willingness to
punish individuals and companies who violate environmental laws as well as those
operating without a license.

The Agency has,
put in place proactive, effective and efficient systems, including:
training senior officers in prosecutions to deal with offenders.

Mr. Kingsley Ekow
Guray-Sey, director of EPA programs, announced it two days later.
training organized by the Agency for Journalists of the Environment in Accra.

Participants would be
become familiar with the EPA's mandate, regulations on waste, chemicals, mines and
Climate change to enable them to understand and better educate the public
the need to protect the environment.

Mr. Guray-Sey stated that
part of the systems to ensure compliance was proactive monitoring of
companies in the country, especially those in big cities.

"In the past, we have
guilty culprits in the districts … now we are in the process of prosecuting
people and businesses, "he said.

Mr. Guray-Sey told
in the past, prosecutions have not been as good as expected due to difficulties
including lack of technical staff.

The Agency, he said,
teamed up with the various metropolitan, municipal and district bademblies
and the police of Ghana to form a tax force to treat industrialists
effluents and noise.

Ms. Angelina Ama
Tutuah Mensah, public relations officer of the EPA, said that protecting the environment
was a shared responsibility and the public had to support the Agency in
voluntary information to the appropriate officers.

She noted that even
although the statutory mission of the EPA is to coordinate the activities of the
Concerned with the technical aspect of the environment, the public has a role to play
play to make it a success.

Ms. Mensah said that
The agency would continue to initiate and pursue formal and non-formal education
awareness programs about the environment and its importance
to the economic and social life of citizens.

GNA