EPA Wants President Boakai to Set Up a Special Task Force to Monitor Wetlands

Monrovia, Liberia: The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Emmanuel Yarkpawolo Urey, has disclosed a plan to set up a Special Task Force to tackle the unabated waves of backfilling for construction purposes on wetlands.

The EPA boss, in a roundtable discussion at the just-ended Monrovia Week Celebration, said the backfilling and construction of structures on wetlands have over time contributed to the worsening flooding situations in some parts of the country.

He disclosed that the agency has proposed the establishment of a special task force on wetlands to President Boakai, which will seek to enforce compliance with the Environmental Protection Laws.

Section 75, Sub-Section 1 of the Act that established the EPA grants the agency the right to issue guidelines and prescribe measures for the protection of wetlands in consultation with line ministries and agencies.

The EPA Executive Director underscored that the establishment of a special task force will help inspectors of the agency who are sometimes overwhelmed to effect the regulations on wetlands due to the growing number of people constructing in areas of wetlands.

He emphasized that over one thousand people were brought into compliance, and several structures were shut down in 2024 in Monrovia and its surroundings for violating the environmental protection laws.

As part of the environmental protection laws, construction of buildings on wetlands is prohibited unless authorized.

According to Yarkpawolo Urey, a lot of people are not adhering to the stop order of the EPA, and as such, it poses a huge threat to environmental degradation and creates potential flooding situations in the country.

Edited: E. Geedahgar Garsuah, Sr.