The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has directed the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to ensure that no project proceeds in the country without a thorough environmental impact assessment (EIA).
The directive is in line with the Environmental Assessment Regulations, 1999 (L.I.1652), which mandates the EPA to do an assessment of development projects likely to have adverse environmental impacts, to ensure environmentally sound and sustainable development.
He made the call during the inauguration of the EPA board in Accra yesterday (August 26), stressing that safeguarding the environment from destruction was critical to human existence and sustainable development.
Boards
The 14-member EPA board is chaired by an environmental expert, Dr Christiana Amoako-Nuamah, and has members drawn from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) such as the ministries of Lands and Natural Resources, MEST, Finance, Health, Education, Energy and Green Transition, as well as the EPA, Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).
In a related development, the minister inaugurated a seven-member board of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), chaired by the government nominee, Dr Abdulai Baba Salifu.
Directive
Mr Buah reiterated that the directive for thorough environmental assessment before any project was carried out in the country was meant to prevent potential environmental consequences.
He said the EIA process, as mandated by law, was not a bureaucratic obstacle but a shield to protect our water bodies, forests, biodiversity and the health of our citizens.
Galamsey
Mr Buah, who is acting as the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), also stressed that the death of two cabinet ministers and six other high-profile Ghanaians in the line of environmental stewardship was a wake-up call for all stakeholders to collectively fight and win the illegal mining battle.
He underscored the need for the board to play a pivotal role in the fight against illegal mining to prevent further destruction of the country’s landscape.
"Our former ministers and their colleagues paid the ultimate price for illegal mining, so the best way to honour their memory is to ensure that our collective effort helps to tackle the galamsey menace head-on," he said.
He stressed that the galamsey menace could not be ignored because it had far-reaching consequences on the country’s development, including pollution of rivers, destruction of farmlands and depletion of forests.
Mr Buah said it was in acknowledgement of the challenges posed by climate change to sustainable development that the government was actively pursuing climate financing and funding mechanisms to implement adaptation and mitigation initiatives.
He urged members of the EPA board to guide the authority to strengthen national climate resilience and ensure transparency in the use of such resources.
GAEC lands
Turning to the GAEC board, Mr Buah stressed the need for all legal processes to be taken to protect the Commission's lands from encroachment activities.
He said the GAEC lands were critical national assets that hosted strategic research, training and nuclear facilities, for which reason encroachers must be cleared from the resource.
He urged the board to prioritise research collaborations, promote innovation in the peaceful applications of nuclear technology in areas such as health, agriculture, industry and environmental management, and ensure that GAEC continued to be a centre of excellence in nuclear science and technology on the African continent.
