The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the field work of the Environmental Protection Agency, according to its Director Vincent Adams, who has said that the staff is using their time to conduct research and do analyses.
“It is kind of frustrating that we can’t go out there to see for ourselves,
because our core mission is to monitor and that is hands on but the
co ronavirus has put a stall on field work for us. We won’t put the staff and public at risk so it’s only in emergency cases we will go out,” Adams told Stabroek News.
“But rest assured, as soon as the coronavirus restrictions are over, we will go out and do our inspections unfettered,” he added.
The EPA Director said the agency’s workers are not just staying at home doing nothing because they are given assignments for research and analysis and have to report electronically on what they have done.
He explained that from January to present, the agency has employed some 15 persons, most of whom are lawyers and engineers.
In addition, he said new paper and electronic filing systems have been established.
“We have established something we never had before which is a registry where we have control of all documents that come here. So every document that comes in and leaves is accounted for; we have hard copies and electronic copies of documents. From that process we realized we today have about 2,000 projects to look at when we only thought that it was 1,000. So now that we have this filing system we can just go to and know the status of all with a click. It is one thing to have the files, it is another thing to act on them,” he said.
“So while we are at a slow and on a shift, people are still working behind the scenes. They will be going through each of these operations and logging what measures need to be taken. They will use this time to go through files, check and see the veracity and such, so when this is over we are ready to hit the road running. When this is done, we know exactly where we are and where the focus should be. So we are still being productive in the office and at home. We can’t assemble here but we work from home and have to give updates. When this is done, we will also have a summary of everything done during the period,” he added.
And as for the legal staff, Adams said that their work did not require being out in the field so they have no excuse for not producing. Because of the old and outdated Environmental Protection Agency Act, which does not have a framework to properly address oil and gas works, he said the legal team needs to work swiftly to propose an overhaul of the legislation.
“We are still hiring people, lawyers and engineers. We have hired about 15 persons this year and those lawyers have a tonne of work to do. We have to start rewriting the EPA Act, as many may know. There isn’t anything there about petroleum so provisions will have to be made for that,” he said.
“When you write, it cannot just be an Act because there has to have regulations and we have to do research to see what is out there globally, what is needed here and how what we propose fits into the local sphere. So the agency is not down. We are just recalibrating and reprioritising our work. In some ways, this slows down the acceleration, but what we are doing now is preparing us for when we get out there to be in a big way. I don’t think we are losing a big lot. I think we are still going to produce effectively,” he added.
Adams said other areas being worked on currently are the overall ban on single use plastics and a programme for the elimination of mercury use.
“Of note also is that the agency is working on how it will propose this plastic ban and we are also working vigorously towards the elimination of mercury use in this country. The COVID’s social distancing policy at the EPA gives us time to do things on the web and just lots of overall research time. So know that we are still maintaining a high level of productivity,” he stressed.
When normal work is resumed at the Sophia, Georgetown head office of the agency, Adams said that landscaping works will also be priority.
Believing that one’s work environment is a reflection of work produced, Adams said that his agency must lead by example and do its best to “spruce up” its environs.
“We are doing construction around the compound. We are doing landscaping.
The whole landscape will look different and be a reflection of what an Environmental Protection Agency should be. Can you imagine that in front of the EPA there is an old rusty clunker of a truck that is half buried in the earth? That greets you! It’s terrible. The drains are another story. They are clogged… and I have said that we have to set the example, so we are doing so. We have to start with ourselves. It is a reflection of us and who we are as an agency,” he said.
The EPA Director said that he has spoken to Mayor of Georgetown Ubraj Narine and explained that the agency will be responsible for maintaining its environs and immediate outskirts. “We went alongside the road and we told people to remove their condemned vehicles and metals. We can’t go telling people they have to clean up their environment and right in front here looks worse than what they have. We have to let the place look like what the EPA should represent and that is what we are doing. As soon as this is over, the EPA has a long list of to dos and we will hit the ground running,” he said.
