EPA, Indian Firm Sign MOU

By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Indian firm, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), to build the capacity of the agency in environmental audit.

The MoU, which would span three years, involves exchange and joint research programmes, with the ultimate aim of strengthening the EPA.

The acting Executive Director of EPA, Mr John Pwamang, signed the pact on behalf of EPA, while deputy Director General of CSE, Mr Chandra Bhushan, signed for his outfit.

Mr Pwamang said CSE has a lot of experience in research and sustainable development from which Ghana could learn from.

He said the EPA as part of its current reorganisation, had created a department which would focus on research.

According to Mr Pwamang, the work of the EPA was largely based on inspections, and it would further tap into the expertise of CSE, which included research.

He said the focus of the agreement involved the issuance of permits for the various operations towards the process of checking, adding that "checking with the compliance of the permit would eventually achieve its importance."

Mr Pwamang said it was the hope of the EPA that at the end of the three years arrangement an institutionalised environmental audit system would be initiated, adding that Ghana was good at environmental assessment, but the audit aspect was weak.

He said it was the hope of his outfit to continue the relationship beyond the stipulated years, in order to have exchange programmes between the two institutions.

Mr Bhushan said the partnership between EPA and his outfit would deepen the relationship between Ghana and India, which span over 60 years.

"I believe the relation between Ghana and India would be strengthened as we both work on improving our environmental protection," he stressed.

According to Mr Bhushan the effects of climate change called for collaborations between countries to protect the environment, adding that the partnership was very important to deal with the sharing of knowledge on how to improve the environment.

He said the company would learn from Ghana's experience on how to best improve the environment of both countries.

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