By: E. Geedahgar Garsuah
MONROVIA: Randall M. Dobayou, II, Deputy Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has informed an assembly at a collaborative discourse on “Water for Climate Resilience, Environmental, and Biodiversity that climate change is responsible for the increased in water-related calamities.
Making the revelation at the ongoing United Nations Conference in New York, the deputy EPA boss pointed out that the deteriorating environmental degradation which includes pollution, ecosystem loss, economies, societies and the environment, and as well the increased water temperatures can be tied to the change in climate.
He told participants of the UN conference on Thursday, March 23, 2023 that while the potential of Liberia’s water resource remains promising, Liberia including many West African countries is short of satisfactory and proper access and management of water’s resources.
According to Dobayou, “Liberia is one of the world’s wettest countries but lacks vital networks to reach everyone with clean drinking water.”
He informed the assembly that the Government of Liberia headed by President George Manneh Weah has made significant progress in upgrading the country’s WASH infrastructure and the provision of services.
“We want to keep providing universal, sustainable and equitable access to safe drinking water. Unfortunately, the EPA as the National Designated Authority (NDA) has struggled to secure finance from the Green Climate Funds to make a significant intervention in the Wash sector because of many bureaucratic challenges,” he stated.
The EPA Deputy boss continues: “We are therefore asking for a substantial reduction in the bureaucracy to allow developing countries such as Liberia access resources as we work to increase our strategic urban and rural water supply by 100% under our Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target by 2030”.
He was quick to caution the gathering that an upsurge in global warming is predicted to intensify risks to ecosystems and human inhabitants.
According to him, several research studies have shown that nine out of ten calamities caused by natural dangers during the last ten years were all water-related disasters.
He said: “Due to their water-dependent nature, food security, human health, urban and rural settlements, energy production, industrial development, economic development, and ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”
