By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Nov.12, GNA-Professor Charles Amoatey, Director, GIMPA Training and Consulting, has called on authorities to improve their monitoring systems and ensure environmental compliance on national projects.
“One of the main challenges we face has been with compliance. We have very weak monitoring and evaluation skills to ensure compliance with environmental risk issues,” he said.
Prof Amoatey said this in Accra during a six-day training course on environmental and social risk management in Accra.
The course on Essentials of Environmental and Social Risk Management, (ESRM) is aimed at increasing the capacity of environmental experts to manage infrastructure projects in the country and within sub-Saharan Africa.
The training programme brought together 30 environmental practitioners from Ghana to build their capacities in managing environmental and social risk issues.
The programme was organised in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), the Regional Transport Research and Education Centre of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the World Bank Group.
He said the African leaders needed to up their game and ensure that processes were in place to address environmental and social risk issues.
He said the participants would be exposed to how they could integrate the concept of environmental and social risk management in the design and implementation processes.
The programme, which was the 6th cohort, had graduated over 200 participants and were making positive impact in their various countries.
“We are getting feedback that shows that there has been significant improvement from the World Bank’s assessment of member countries as far as compliance with environmental and social risk standards in the way projects are implemented,” he said.
He expressed concern about the way development processes were managed in the country, disregarding environmental impacts of projects.
“Illegal mining is a big issue in Ghana, and I think it is also a sign of weaknesses in our institutions as far as monitoring and ensuring compliance of these environmental issues are concerned,” he said.
The training, he stressed, would not only provide participants with technical competences but also champion policies to address environmental issues in their various countries.
Professor Helen Essandoh, Director, Regional Transport Research and Education Centre, KNUST, said the course, since its inception in November 2022, had built the capacities of participants from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, and Nigeria, among others.
She said the training was relevant because African countries were developing and would continue to develop, which came with social and environmental issues that could be detrimental to the implementation of the project and may affect its sustainability.
The participants would go through topics, including occupational health and safety, procurement, social issues, such as gender, and land acquisition.
Prof Essandoh said the course reflected the commitment to foster responsible, sustainable practices in a world where such considerations were no longer optional but vital to the success and longevity of any organisation or community initiative.
She encouraged the participants to engage fully in the training session and make a meaningful impact on their various establishments.
The participants expressed optimism to learn new things to improve the environmental and social sectors.
GNA