By Jibril Abdul Mumuni
Accra, July 23, GNA – Professor Kwabena Frimpong‑Boateng, former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has blamed chronic underfunding of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Ghana’s worsening environmental challenges.
He said the situation had reduced the regulator to issuing permits rather than enforcing environmental laws.
Prof. Frimpong‑Boateng made the remarks while delivering the 14th Anniversary Commemorative Lecture in honour of former President John Evans Atta Mills in Accra.
“The EPA has been left to fend for itself financially. The result is entirely predictable, an agency charged with protecting Ghana’s environment, biodiversity and public health has been reduced to issuing permits as a revenue‑generating exercise,” he said.
Prof. Frimpong‑Boateng explained that successive governments had failed to provide adequate financial support, forcing the Agency to generate revenue to fund operations and pay staff.
He said the EPA lacked capacity to provide effective oversight, conduct comprehensive environmental impact assessments and enforce compliance with regulations.
The consequences, Prof. Frimpong‑Boateng said, were evident in polluted rivers, air and soil, and the destruction of water bodies by illegal mining.
He said that the galamsey menace persisted not only because of lawlessness but also because institutions mandated to prevent degradation had been weakened through years of inadequate funding.
Prof. Frimpong‑Boateng cited recent flooding in parts of Greater Accra as evidence of regulatory failure, noting that protected wetlands, waterways and flood‑retention areas had been encroached upon despite existing planning and environmental regulations.
The EPA, established under Act 490 of 1994, is responsible for environmental regulation, pollution control, impact assessment and compliance monitoring. Concerns over its operational capacity have intensified amid rising incidents of illegal mining, pollution and encroachment on sensitive areas.
Prof Frimpong‑Boateng, who previously chaired the Inter‑Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, has long advocated stronger enforcement of environmental laws and greater state investment in environmental protection.
“A government that cannot fund its universities, its scientists and its environmental regulators has not found a clever way to save money. It has found a certain way to destroy its country’s future,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Jibril Abdul Mumuni