By Sulaiman Aruna Sesay
The Environmental Protection Agency, on Friday 12th April, issued out a press release throwing light on the maturity of the two statutory instrument laid in parliament about weeks ago. The Environmental Protection Agency, through its parent Ministry, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change developed two regulations: the Environmental Protection Agency (Environmental Impact Assessment Fees) Regulation 2024, statutory Instrument No. 2 of 2024, and the Environmental Protection Agency (Agricultural and Agro-Based Industrial Activities) Regulation 2024, statutory instrument No. 3 of 2024.
The first statutory Instrument, the Agricultural and Agro-Based Industrial Activities Regulations 2024 aim to promote business-friendly agriculture and related sectors while at the same protecting sustainable and climate-smart agricultural practices in Sierra Leone.
The release noted that, the Sector-Specific Fee Regulations ensure that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) fees are not generic, but rather calculated depending on the environmental footprint of each industry requiring on EIA licence. According to the release, it serves as a tool to promote investment in the Agriculture Sector, using a fairer and more equitable method of calculating EIA fees. “Through this tool, home-grown agricultural companies and foreign businesses will thrive and contribute positively in the country’s flagship program Feed Salone- by scaling up agricultural production and availability of food for the people of Sierra Leone,” stated in the release.
