The National Environmental Agency (NEA) on Saturday 10th December, 2022 convened a capacity building forum on issues relating to environmental health for National Assembly Select Committee on Environment and chairpersons of various select committees of the parliament.
The training held at NaNA, was aimed at enhancing the capacity of lawmakers, especially the select committees on Environment.
It was also designed to expose and enhance their understanding of the various environmental Acts and Regulations.
The exercise, officials believe, would help the participants greatly in making informed decisions and for them to expedite ratification of pending draft bills when it is tabled before them.
Established by Section 9 of NEMA 1994 Act, NEA is the principal body responsible for the coordination of environmental management in the country.
Representing the Executive Director of Agency, Jagga Touray, director of inter-sectoral service at NEA, reminded that environmental degradation is a major concern that continues to threaten 'our future development endeavors'.
The impacts, he added, are evident in all aspects including health, livelihoods and local development initiatives.
"Recent problems associated with land degradation, biodiversity loss and other climate change related impacts including flash floods and coastal erosion are felt by everyone. And this phenomenon is expected to get even worse with the rapid population growth and increasing urbanisation." he noted.
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The training he said, is intended to arm lawmakers with requisite skills to be able to deal with matters relating to the environment and to increase their understanding in the area.
Touray expressed optimism that participants after the training would be provided with the needed-information to be able to deal with issues of environmental health and its related matters.
Suwaibou Touray, representing chair of the Select Committee on Environment, commended NEA for organising such an important forum for NAMs.
He revealed that many Bills related to the environment are expected to be tabled before parliament in 2023.
In this regard, he said, the training would enable lawmakers to have a thorough understanding of environmental matters.
Also speaking, Bakary K Badjie, National Assembly member for Foni Bintang, thanked NEA for convening such an important forum, saying the training would no doubt empower them with the much-needed knowledge to debate on issues related to environmental health.
