EPA’s RESPONSE TO NEWSPAPER ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON NOVEMBER 11, 2024
November 11, 2024
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hereby provides the following comments in response to an article published in the Kaieteur News on November 11, 2024 under the headline, “EPA moving ahead with 7th oil project while Jagdeo halts search for consultants to review plan.”
- The EPA, while an Agency of the Government of Guyana, cannot approve and does not have the mandate of “moving ahead” with any project on behalf of the Government of Guyana, as the headline of the article erroneously suggests.
- The EPA performs independent regulatory functions and a decision that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is necessary has nothing to do with Government approval, nor does it suggest that the EPA, in and of itself, is giving approval for a project.
- The EIA is essentially an information gathering and planning tool, which then helps to inform the Government of Guyana in its decision making process in relation to whether or not to approve a given project.
