Monrovia-The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Emmanuel Urey Yarkpawolo, said the current home of the agency does not represent the institution and as such his administration has begun making proposals to build a safe and green home that will be environmentally friendly.
Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo noted that the current house that is hosting the EPA is an expensive private property that is rented by the government of Liberia.
He disclosed that money that is being used to rent for the EPA could be used to build a decent home for the entity.
Dr. Yarkpawolo however, in a frustrating tone, described the current home of the EPA as “dilapidated” and does not represent the institution.
“I have followed all of the concerns raised here at the conference ranging from protecting our international waters, creating protected areas using regulations among others, but one major thing we need not to forget about is to have a new headquarters for the Environmental Protection Agency of the Republic of Liberia, because we really need a place to sit and do the job”.
He noted, “I have been through the building that is currently hosting the EPA and it is in a dilapidated condition, and this is not a place to have a functional EPA in term of what is needed”.
He told the gathering that, “the EPA supposed to be an example of environmental stewardship. From the structure of the building to where we get our energy from, we are using diesel, is not good for institution like ours. I toured the building today it is not a home of this agency; something needs to be done. Thank God that the pass administration already secured a land and the blueprint is ready. How can we be the agency that supporse to protect the environment and we are using diesel the whole day?”, he emphasized.
I want to assure you that the new EPA under the administration of President Joseph Boakai, who himself is fighting corruption in Government, will be free of corruption. I can assure you that every dollar you spend will be accounted for.
The EPA boss was speaking Tuesday February 20, at the close of a two day stakeholder dialogue with The Global Environment Facility (GEF) that brought together participants from about 38 institutions from Government Line Ministries, Agencies and Commissions, Non-Governmental Institutions, civil society organizations, community members, Academic and Research institutions, the private sector, as well as partners and donors.
The Global Environment Facility is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, and sustainable cities in developing countries.
The GEF activities are normally a component of National Dialogues where the GEF Partnership is one of the sources of financing and support available to the country.
GEF Partners includes the World Bank, African Development Bank, UNDP, FAO, and Conservation International. This year’s national dialogue objective was to discuss the US$8.63 million allocation.
