Just recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cut two massive swathes in pollution problems that have been causing some amount of grief. The EPA revealed that it had fined Fat Boy Coconut Ventures, a Pomeroon River-based company that operates under the umbrella of Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprises, $1 million for polluting the waterways with waste: coconut shells and husks. It also audited the Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL) bio methanation plant at Diamond, East Bank Demerara and ordered that it cease operation after it was found to be environmentally wanting.
The dumping of waste into rivers and tributaries is nothing new, particularly in the Pomeroon area. Some coconut by-product manufacturers have been doing it for years. The management of Fat Boy Coconut Ventures did not just get up one morning and decide to dump “about 15,000 coconut shells” (count provided by the EPA) into the waterways that flow into the Pomeroon. No, they no doubt had been doing it for some time and felt comfortable with it.
In fact, the reason the EPA visited the area to investigate was because residents had complained about the indiscriminate dumping. They noted that the waste not only created a flood risk but was dangerous for river travel as it could get caught in the motors of boats and cause accidents. The imposition of a fine to deter any further such action was an excellent outcome of the EPA’s investigation, as was the move to ensure that the company obtained a permit as well as an environmentally sound way of disposing of its waste. However, there was no mention by the EPA about clean-up. One hopes that Fat Boy Coconut Ventures is at the forefront of whatever measures have to be taken to rid the waterways of coconut waste; it is only fitting.
Meanwhile, one also hopes that the EPA took the opportunity while in the area to visit other coconut by-product manufacturers – both large and small-scale. As much as one would like to hope that Fat Boy Coconut Ventures was the only despoiler of the Pomeroon canals, it is hardly likely. It stands to reason, therefore, that even the vendors selling dry coconuts, or coconut water in the shell should be monitored with regard to their disposal of waste. A few shells a day from a scattering of sellers and small businesses would definitely add up over time. And given that the EPA is grossly underfunded and short staffed, it would make sense to complete oversight of several entities while in a particular area.
As regards DDL, its biogas plant had been releasing or losing waste which swamped the nearby Diamond community on a regular basis. The EPA’s investigation, following a complaint from residents, found other environmental infringements. Dr Adams told this newspaper that DDL had 10 operations that required permits, but which did not have said permits and were operating anyway. Further, “… they were washing some waste tanks and then dumping that directly into the Demerara River,” he said.
As was mentioned earlier, Guyanese seem to have no qualms with regard to polluting waterways. DDL’s use of the Demerara River as a waste dump is an old story that inexplicably seems to bother no one in authority. Back in 2011, residents along the East Bank Demerara, between Diamond and Prospect had complained about an unbearable stench coming from a seemingly clogged canal running alongside the road. Some of them had pointed fingers at DDL, but the company’s chemical engineer at the time had stated positively that this was not the case since, “Our waste uses another channel that leads directly into the Demerara River.” So, perhaps it was not polluting the canal, but it was definitely polluting the river.
No one in government or the EPA at the time even lifted a brow. This time around it would appear that a brow has been lifted, but that is all. There is no evidence that DDL has been fined for its pollution of either the community or the river, nor as in the case of the coconut waste, has it been mandated to clean up after itself. So, is it okay to dump biogas effluent into our waterways? The EPA should let us know.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the EPA had announced that it would raise fees for permits and services so as to address its dire need for funding to do its work and hire the specialised staff it so desperately requires. This was after Minister of Finance Winston Jordan’s peevishly stated that government would be unable to find any money for the EPA owing to the current political and parliamentary situation. Dubbing the EPA’s fees “chicken feed”, the minister suggested that the agency should consider raising them immediately to fund its needs. While this is obviously a good recommendation, especially since the EPA’s fees had been stagnant since 1996, it is highly unlikely that fees alone would be able to fund what is required for a fully functioning EPA.
In a recent interview with this newspaper, EPA Executive Director Dr Vincent Adams had stated that the agency needs engineers, hydrologists, petroleum engineers, hydrogeologists and other experts as well as legal staff. In addition, it needs up-to-date and reliable equipment as well as vehicles. The EPA’s dire straits is not news. It has never been able to be proactive because of all it lacked, and therefore does not fulfil the ‘protection’ part of its name as its work is usually done after the fact. A forensic audit of the EPA conducted by former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran in 2016 found that it required 165 more staff members than it had, salaries were low, equipment was negligible, and its building was inadequate, among other things, most dating back to before 2012. Dr Adams said not much had changed since then.
What is strikingly disappointing about all this is that two successive governments have talked the “green” concept (the PPP/C’s Low Carbon Development Strategy and the APNU+AFC’s Green State Development Strategy) but neither saw it fit to step up funding for a strong EPA. This must change and the sooner the better.
