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EPA should not be separated from government: Minister Shauna

Lamya Abdulla
26 April 2023, MVT 18:14
Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Technology Aiminath Shauna speaking at parliament on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 -- Photo: Parliament
Lamya Abdulla
26 April 2023, MVT 18:14

Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Technology Aminath Shauna said on Tuesday that empowering Environment Protection Agency (EPA) as an independent organisation beyond government jurisdiction would be an unsuitable move for a country like the Maldives.

Minister Shauna provided this response to a question posed by Ungoofaaru MP Mohamed Waheed, regarding the delay in fulfilling the current administration's campaign pledge to establish EPA as an independent institution.

She said that calls for EPA to become independent came after the former administration transferred responsibility for conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to the Ministry of Tourism in 2015.

One major accomplishment of the current administration in empowering EPA was amending the Tourism Act and transferring the responsibility for conducting EIAs back to the EPA.

Shauna said the administration had pledged to ensure EPA functioned independently, and they have been studying how environmental regulatory bodies operate worldwide.

Taking Singapore, United States of America, and United Kingdom as examples, she noted that even in these countries the environmental regulatory responsibilities even in these countries, environmental regulatory responsibilities are not separated from the executive branch of government.

"Therefore, we have to accept that it would not be a suitable system for a developing nation like the Maldives to completely separate EPA and make it an independent commission that regulates environmental issues," she said.

However, some members were dissatisfied with Shauna's answer and repeatedly questioned her on the matter.

Shauna said that as per the government's 100-day pledge, EPA has been functioning independently as an agency without external political influence.

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