A just issued Auditor General's Report has concluded that NEPA (National Environment and Planning Agency) simply is not doing its job and taxpayers are not getting value for the billions they have spent and continue to spend to fund it.

'Our" Diana McCaulay (the CEO of JET) lets out a sigh of frustration and relief over the glaring confirmation, in the report, when she states:

"NEPA has failed the people of Jamaica."

"Basically the performance audit done by the Auditor General confirms things JET has been saying about the NEP since its existence and even before that. We've been contending that the environmental regulatory body has not been carrying out its function to protect the environment and the report outlines many circumstances where that is the case and now it's not just the non governmental movement saying that but another Government agency. I'm happy for the report and I hope that everybody will take the time to read it and grapple with the way this agency has failed the tax payers and the people of Jamaica..."

Scroll down to 3rd RJR story:
(or Cached under: Vindicated!-JET responds to Auditor General's report on NEPA)
http://rjr94fm.com/jamaica-today/local-news

"The report confirms what JET has long contended; NEPA is not carrying out its mandate to protect the environment. The report cites leadership instability, poor management, severe weaknesses in monitoring and enforcement, lack of priority given to legal and enforcement issues, failure to take appropriate action in the case of breaches and even failure to collect the appropriate fees for the issuing of permits." JET said.

Observer-Read more:
Wherein, NEPA shifts responsibility and blame to structural and organizational inadequacies of being linked to the interventions of the NRCA (National Resources Conservation Authority) and the TCPA (Town and Country Planning Authority) as the root cause of their "weakness".
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Weak-NEPA-lashed_8237117#ixzz18HmG52aJ

From RJR News, 15 December 2010:

Vindicated! – JET responds to Auditor General's report on NEPA

The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) says it has taken the Auditor General's report on the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) with a sense of vindication and profound concern.

NEPA, the Government agency with prime responsibility for protecting Jamaica's environment, is the subject of an unfavourable performance report by Auditor General General Pamela Munroe-Ellis, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The report says the agency simply is not doing its job and taxpayers are not getting value for the billions they have spent and continue to spend to fund it.

A damming assessment of NEPA comes out from the conclusion of the report which says "taxpayers have not received much value for the $3.6 billion investment they have provided to support NEPA's operation over the past ten years."

Before that the report details severe managerial weaknesses, poor resource management and the absence of any clear sign of growth since NEPA was set up in 2001.

The report notes that there have been six Chief Executive Officers in just 10 years.

NEPA monitoring less than half of approved developments

It says bluntly "NEPA is not assessing the current state of the environment to inform its planning decisions."

And according to Auditor General Pamela Munroe Ellis, there are plenty of examples.

Mrs. Munroe Ellis says "NEPA staff are monitoring less than half of approved developments."

The Auditor General concedes that "NEPA has prioritised the monitoring of developments that present a serious threat to the Jamaican environment."

However, at the same time, the report says only 28% are being monitored with "enforcement staff who spend 60 percent of their time performing administrative tasks, as opposed to working in the field."

Too few NEPA staff monitoring the environment

And stunningly, the report says for at least 89% of these enforcement officers, no steps are being taken to verify what they are doing and what they are being paid for.

Moreover, the Auditor General says "there are no formal procedures to indicate how NEPA's enforcement branch is advised of newly approved permits and licences."

Of staff, the Auditor General's report says too many are working in core technical areas and too few on monitoring the environment.

Of environmental breaches, the Auditor General says "NEPA did not address 42% of the environmental concerns reported by the public [between] April 2007 and March 2010."

However, even where fines were levied for environmental breaches, the Auditor General says they are no deterrents because they were too small.

NEPA has failed the J'can people – JET

Meanwhile, the private environmental group, the Jamaica Environment Trust, having read the report, it is not surprised.

According to JET, the report confirms what it has said all along that NEPA is not carrying out its mandate to protect the environment.

Diana McCaulay, Chief Executive Officer of JET, says NEPA has failed the people of Jamaica.

"Basically the performance audit done by the Auditor General confirms things JET has been saying about the NEP since its existence and even before that. We've been contending that the environmental regulatory body has not been carrying out its function to protect the environment and the report outlines many circumstances where that is the case and now it's not just the non governmental movement saying that but another Government agency. I'm happy for the report and I hope that everybody will take the time to read it and grapple with the way this agency has failed the tax payers and the people of Jamaica," Mrs. McCauley told RJR News.

JET is also calling for the Prime Minister, who is the Minister of the Environment, to take immediate action to ensure the country has a functioning and effective environmental regulatory body.

NEPA fines too low

The Auditor General's report also said the fines imposed by NEPA, which range from $100 to $40,000, are too low.

According to the audit, the fines do not serve as a deterrent and should therefore be reviewed.

It said NEPA has not achieved its legislative requirement to ensure that 40% to 90% of its costs are recovered from fees.

NEPA's failure to monitor its cost has resulted in the non collection of $11 million for 153 licenses and permits processed from January 2007 to March 2010.

In addition the lack of systematic efforts to regularly revise fees has resulted in the public incurring costs of at least $221 million for licenses and permits processed over the same period.

Of this amount $126 million was incurred for planning applications for which no fees were charged.

The Auditor General has recommended that the management lobby for amendments to existing regulations to allow it to collect processing fees for applications.

In addition the management has been urged to conduct evaluations of the cost effectiveness of the fees charged every three years.

Peter Knight, the current Chief Executive Officer of the NEPA has declined to comment on the findings of the Auditor General's performance audit.

Simple. Move NEPA to Goat Island and give JET the job.

Turey - thats the best idea yet!

Absolutely shameful, an utter disgrace but not surprising. That it has been allowed to get away with so much for so long is even more shocking.Surely the government can't sit back and allow it to stagnate?

Agreed Beth, not surprising. Most of us are already resigned to the ieevitable demise of paradise. Like the song says "they paint paradise and put up a parking lot". Don't worry though, "progress" is a good thing.

If you are concerned about this report, please write to the press. We need to let the politicians know that we Jamaicans ARE concerned about the environment. letters@gleanerjm.com and/or editorial@jamaicaobserver.com

Diana from JET

Gleaner: Lobbyists Call for NEPA Reform

"We, therefore, call on the prime minister, who is currently the minister of the environment, to take immediate action to remedy this un-satisfactory situation. Jamaica needs a fair, consistent and pro-fessional environmental regulatory body, free of political interference, using international best practices to protect our natural resources, staffed with people of the highest integrity, competence and commitment."

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20101223/news/news2.html

A Far-off Island: Close-by Environmental Warnings

What if your country was awash in huge foreign exchange reserves and wished to accelerate development of its peaceful island, practically overnight, into a Waikiki-like beach "para-dice"?

What if, in the case of this Rock, the situation was foreign developers rushing pell-mell past sound environmental procedures and guidance to build All Inclusive(Mis-usive) gated hotel complexes?
...only to be slowed down by the current tumultuous economic downturn.

What lessons will this government, its ministers, NEPA and the populace take, from a building lull, to get our act together?

An Island's Dizzying, Troubling Growth
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/26/AR2010122602262.html

What a sad and amazing story Stu. Thanks for sharing.

Essentially the same thing has already been done by the government of Jamaica. Tell me why we need the inexpensive Spanish all-inclusives when the existing rooms on the island can't be filled. Tell me why Falmouth is now some sort of make believe tourist attraction for a cruise ship line.

I feel certain Miss McCaulay could add several more things to this list.

On the fly, there may not seem to be much commonality between likkle JamRock and the heavily populated, nascent industrial growth engine that is India.

Looking more closely:
"India and Jamaica have traditionally enjoyed cordial and friendly relations based on common linkages of history, Parliamentary democracy, membership of the Commonwealth, English language and the love of cricket."

"There also exists a cultural heritage bond as Indian nationals were brought to this region as indentured labour between 1845-1917. 70,000 strong Indian diaspora now constitutes over to 2-3% of the Jamaican population. They have assimilated well in the Jamaican society – fondly described as ‘genetically embedded and integrated in the Jamaican society,’...and their contribution to the Jamaican economic and social development has been acknowledged and appreciated at the highest political level in Jamaica.

• Both India and Jamaica are members of NAM, G-77, G-15, WTO, WIPO, UN and its various subsidiary bodies.
•  Both being developing countries, share similar concerns and common aspirations for accelerated economic growth, eradication of poverty, improvement in the quality of life of our people, and promotion of equity.
• Both also have shared stakes in shaping the emerging architecture of various multilateral institutions to address the existing inequities, and for addressing major contemporary issues related to energy security, food security, climate change, and international terrorism, among others.
• Both have common interests in promotion of South-South Cooperation and synergizing our efforts towards the common objective of securing a better deal for the developing world in the relevant multilateral fora to promote the development imperatives of the South without impacting on our policy space."
(from India High Commission: India-Jamaica Relations)

In the ongoing search for relevant models, policies and procedures to improve the current balance between environmental protection...development & poverty alleviation, the status in India may prove instructive as a snapshot of the battle-lines and how politically fragile they have become.

Whatever the strengthening of the enforcement powers of NEPA, the Parish Councils and other decision organs, the mere fact that the portfolio for the Environment rests in the Prime Minister of Jamaica's office suggests that final decisions between a project proposed in OUR delicate mangrove seabeds & Else-where will be lobbied heavily to the highest reaches of government in the name of
Improve-me-nt.


Take a look-see at the forces in play as described in a recent news article:
"Every time (the) Indian Environment Minister ...says NO to a project, his critics give him a new label:
Green Fundamentalist, Anti-Business, Anti-Growth, Obstructionist, Luddite and Dr. No."

Environmental Protection Efforts Rile Pro-Development Forces in India
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/03/AR2011010305140.html

Indian Environmental Minister Jairam Ramesh:

"WE CANNOT AFFORD TO POLLUTE OUR WAY TO PROSPERITY"

What are the chances that we'll see that message on a Jamaican Highway Billboard or hear it as a Public Service Announcement on our Air-Waves?