By Elbie Sebleh
MONROVIA: Environment activist, Mr. Tundy Rodney Tarn, I, has proposed the setting-up of a Special Environmental Court aimed at addressing Liberia’s worsening climate disorder.
Activist Tarn also called on President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to also demonstrate the necessary political will to address the prevailing environmental crisis across the country.
Speaking in an interview with journalists over the weekend in Monrovia, Mr. Tarn said that the 2001 Act establishing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), calls for the setting-up of an Environmental Court to timely and properly dispose of increasing environmental cases and violators of the country’s environmental laws.
The Climate and Environmental Protection Initiative of Liberia Executive Director added that Liberia is experiencing unprecedented flooding and others environmental disorders due to the lack of Environmental Court, political will and adequate climate awareness across the country.
He believes that with Political will and setting-up of the Environmental Court and adequate climate awareness, Liberia cam make significant gain in improving the country’s sanitation and hygiene as well as environmental and climate protection.
“Under the EPA Act, it states that there should be Environmental Court. The environmental court needs to be setup. The EPA Act was established 2001 and since then, the environmental court has not been setups. Also, we need stronger political will and adequate climate change awareness across the country to address the climate issues we are facing today,” Mr. Tarn stated.
He lamented that recently, his group visited some outside Monrovia including the Dolokan Community in Congo Town, Peace Island, and the 72nd Boulevard Road among others to conduct climate awareness and they discovered that people are in flagrant violation and disregard to the EPA law.
The environmental activist added that from their tour, they discovered that even medical facilities are taking wastes from their facilities and publicly disposing them in the community.
Also, he pointed out that they saw places where people are destroying, EPA symbols that talk about protection of the swamp, they break down those symbols constructed and backfilled where homes are built in those wetlands thereby depleting the mangrove.
“So, from what all we saw, the first and foremost to move Liberia forwards to combat climate change, you need the political will to handle issues about waste, sanitation and environmental protection. The EPA director and the government needs the political will and the Law enforcement agencies need to back the EPA up,” Mr. Tarn urged.
He further indicated that whenever rich companies are in violation and fined by the EPA, they run to the Supreme Court’s which is a good thing, but he added that it’s so sadden that some of those justices don’t have degree in environmental science and neither a specialization in Environmental Law.
“With the setting-up of the Environmental Court, it helps the EPA to ensure that those presiding over those cases are professionally trained in environmental sciences and laws,” he stressed.