Environmental laws outdated— Minister
Post-Courier (PNG), Copyright 2000
December 1, 2000
CURRENT legislation governing the state of the environment in the country were outdated and did not reflect modern environmental laws that were used around the world.
Some were also used for the wrong purposes, a government minister has revealed.
Environment and Conservation Minister Herowa Agiwa also said that the approvals conflicted one another and were confusing to permit holders.
Presenting his submission before Parliament on the Environment Bill, he said: “A lot of time is spent on evaluating environment applications as a result of the requirements of each legislation.
“Each Act also establishes its own board, creating additional administrative workload for limited OEC human resources.”
He told Parliament in his second reading speech on the Environment Bill that there was also a duplication and overlapping of functions between the Environment Planning Act, the Environmental Contaminant Act and the Water Resources Act, — the country’s three environmental laws.
He said the Environmental Planning Act, which was intended to ensure that an environmental plan was prepared for developments that would have an impact on the environment, was used for reasons apart from that.
“It was not intended to provide the detailed operating conditions for a development, however, this has been the way it has been used,” said Mr Agiwa.
“Approvals are issued and in the past, some decisions have been taken without consultation and with little accountability.”
Likewise, the Environmental Contaminant Act had been used mainly for licensing of hazardous environmental contaminants. It cannot be used to license waste discharges from developments as it overlaps with the Water Resources Act, says Mr Agiwa.
He said the implementation of these laws had caused significant workload for his office at this time when the Government was trying to be more transparent, efficient and effective.