The Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone (EPA) is mandated by law to issue Environmental Impact Assessment license. Currently the agency achieves this mandate by issuing environmental licenses manually which alw...The Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone (EPA) is mandated by law to issue Environmental Impact Assessment license. Currently the agency achieves this mandate by issuing environmental licenses manually which always encountered lot of problems of accountability and transparency of the management of environmental licenses and assessment documentation. Client’s information and documentation is usually mixed up while carrying files from one point to the other or from one staff to another. Data on client are stored in a way which makes it difficult for the management to retrieve useful information on time. This paper explores these challenges faced by the manual system of issuing environmental licenses and infer solutions to the current challenges by integrating a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to develop an Environmental Cadastre administrative System (ECAS) which establishes a web-based information repository database developed with open sources software (Java, PHP, MySQL, QGIS) that published revenues online and made the data available to stakeholders and/or the public to complete the cycle of accountability and transparency. The information is presented and downloadable in a comprehensible and user-friendly manner, which in turn improves monitoring and reporting, and increases effectiveness and accountability of the management of environmental licenses and assessment documentation. The findings show these challenges facing the manual system, the back and forth between EPA and the client in the EIA process, the difficulty in the searching a client record, the mixing up of Client’s information and documentation by carrying files from one point to the other, and the storage of data on client in a way which makes it difficult for the management to retrieve useful information on time, and lack of back up when data or information is lost. Problems encountered in the time-consuming nature of the manual retrieval of files and preparation of prompt and accurate reports make it become a difficult task to accomplish as data and information are difficult to retrieve or collect from various files. Based on these findings, this paper provides the possible solution to the above problems. An online Environmental Cadastre administrative System (ECAS) which establishes a web-based information repository database was designed to capture the full lifecycle of environmental licenses including all stages of monitoring, licenses and payments and seamlessly manage the environmental impact assessment (EIA) licenses.展开更多
Enforcing environmental laws and policies has been one of the pressing agenda globally.Despite the mandate given to the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)by the Act 490,there are still numerous environmental issues ...Enforcing environmental laws and policies has been one of the pressing agenda globally.Despite the mandate given to the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)by the Act 490,there are still numerous environmental issues unaddressed in Ghana.This paper is geared towards unravelling and identifying the current additions that have been made to existing literature on environmental laws and policies in Ghana.This paper made a wide-ranging general literature review to outline significant contributions concerning environmental laws and policies.Numerous environmental laws and policies were identified but have been fragmented and are not codified in a particular document.It is evident from the review of literature existing that there are still areas for advanced research on the topic of environmental laws and policies placing more emphasis on institution concerned with environmental issues at global level.The study recommended the need for capacity building for environmental personnel and data due to the numerous technological advancement to better assist the implementation and enforcement of environmental laws in Ghana.展开更多
文摘The Environment Protection Agency Sierra Leone (EPA) is mandated by law to issue Environmental Impact Assessment license. Currently the agency achieves this mandate by issuing environmental licenses manually which always encountered lot of problems of accountability and transparency of the management of environmental licenses and assessment documentation. Client’s information and documentation is usually mixed up while carrying files from one point to the other or from one staff to another. Data on client are stored in a way which makes it difficult for the management to retrieve useful information on time. This paper explores these challenges faced by the manual system of issuing environmental licenses and infer solutions to the current challenges by integrating a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to develop an Environmental Cadastre administrative System (ECAS) which establishes a web-based information repository database developed with open sources software (Java, PHP, MySQL, QGIS) that published revenues online and made the data available to stakeholders and/or the public to complete the cycle of accountability and transparency. The information is presented and downloadable in a comprehensible and user-friendly manner, which in turn improves monitoring and reporting, and increases effectiveness and accountability of the management of environmental licenses and assessment documentation. The findings show these challenges facing the manual system, the back and forth between EPA and the client in the EIA process, the difficulty in the searching a client record, the mixing up of Client’s information and documentation by carrying files from one point to the other, and the storage of data on client in a way which makes it difficult for the management to retrieve useful information on time, and lack of back up when data or information is lost. Problems encountered in the time-consuming nature of the manual retrieval of files and preparation of prompt and accurate reports make it become a difficult task to accomplish as data and information are difficult to retrieve or collect from various files. Based on these findings, this paper provides the possible solution to the above problems. An online Environmental Cadastre administrative System (ECAS) which establishes a web-based information repository database was designed to capture the full lifecycle of environmental licenses including all stages of monitoring, licenses and payments and seamlessly manage the environmental impact assessment (EIA) licenses.
文摘Enforcing environmental laws and policies has been one of the pressing agenda globally.Despite the mandate given to the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)by the Act 490,there are still numerous environmental issues unaddressed in Ghana.This paper is geared towards unravelling and identifying the current additions that have been made to existing literature on environmental laws and policies in Ghana.This paper made a wide-ranging general literature review to outline significant contributions concerning environmental laws and policies.Numerous environmental laws and policies were identified but have been fragmented and are not codified in a particular document.It is evident from the review of literature existing that there are still areas for advanced research on the topic of environmental laws and policies placing more emphasis on institution concerned with environmental issues at global level.The study recommended the need for capacity building for environmental personnel and data due to the numerous technological advancement to better assist the implementation and enforcement of environmental laws in Ghana.
