Attny. Brownell Advocates Amendment on Environmental Law
By: Lewis K. Glay
Forum
Monrovia, Liberia
Distributed by
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
Attorney Brownell said there were sectoral conflicts and the usurpation of functions amongst government institutions as to which one is clothed with the statutory responsibility to regulate the importation, production, distribution and the use of chemicals in Liberia.
He observed that government policies geared toward attracting investments into the country, coupled with the impact of such polices on environmental management, have been in existence for too long without much improvement.
According to the environmental lawyer, the development and environmental laws of Liberia can be classified into the periods of pre April 2000 and post April 2000 respectively.
He noted that in the pre April 2000 period, the sectoral laws were not properly implemented by the ministries of Health and Agriculture as well as the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), whom he said, were involved in instituting statutory responsibility on to themselves as far as environmental laws were concerned.
Attorney Brownell further explained that the post April 2000 period marked the evolution of Liberia’s existing environmental bills, which he said, clearly delineate” the different policy issues on the Liberian environment.
&For instance, the development of agriculture polices on the biodiversity and biotechnology as well as sectoral laws on forming and all institutional arrangements, which are related to environmental and natural resources management, were identified,” he added.
Attorney Brownell made these statements recently in Sinkor, at a one-day national consensus building workshop which focused on a consultant report of a review of existing environmental related legislations and institutional arrangement of Liberia’s environmental and natural resources management.
He called on the environmental protection agency (EPA) to set new standards for the full participation of Liberians from one segments, stressing that environmental issues are global in nature.
