The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has defended its decision to co-opt staff from its agencies and stressed that 98 percent of its staffing needs have been filled and that an international consultant has been hired to look at ways of strengthening the EPA, improve cost recovery and bolster staff retention.
This response from the Ministry came yesterday following the publication by this newspaper of an article titled, ‘Natural Resources Ministry co-opting of EPA staff jeopardizing programmes.’ The article speaks to the 2012 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Annual Report in which a number of revelations were made regarding staffing issues.