October 5, 2021
Audrey John
EPA has partnered with MAVA and PRCM to conduct a regional training on environmental management of offshore oil and gas activities at the Atlantic Hotel in Freetown. The three day training targets stakeholders in the sector.
At the opening ceremony Valentine Sualay on behalf of his boss Momodu Bah said welcomed the delegates and attendees to training intended to build capacities and raise awareness on the impact of oil and gas on the environment.
Attendees are drawn from the Ministry of Environment, Office of National Security, and University of Sierra Leone among others.
Making a statement at the opening session, Mr. Bartholomy Batieno from MAVA PRCM as regional lead on the project said the project is running on two phases, the first phase implemented one year ago. He said this is global project based on international laws and designed two fit into the sub regional requirement. He lamented the fact that the COVID 19 outbreak created some hitches in the implementation but with the progress noted in the containment effort there are now opportunities to elevate the capacity building and awareness processes begun.
He implored the partners to enhance efforts in the policy issues in this second phases based on national approach under the leadership of the EPA.
Bartholomey Batieno said the yesterday training was actually supposed to be held in the first phase and similar of such meetings have been held in Senegal and Guinea. He stressed the need for synergy in obtaining the right synergy on oil and gas. He stressed the point that because there is less expertise in the sub region on oil exploration and exploitation the need for sharing of knowledge must be taken seriously.
He appealed to the EPA to push the process of domesticating the additional protocols as the target has been 2020.
Responding the EPA Boss Momodu Bah disclosed that the protocols have been domesticated in Sierra Leone. He added that the government is very much committed to the process
There are various modules to be covered during the three days training ranging from; Marine and Coastal ecosystem services delivered by Komba Konoyima from the University of Sierra Leone;; Living and Non Living Marine Resources of Sierra Leone; Marine Spaces Ecological and Socio Economy Vulnerability , Multiplicity of use and climate change integrated management; Marine Pollution/oil spills and ecological systems habitats and biodiversity and economic damage; history of hydro carbon, geopolitics of oil and gas, oil companies actors asymmetry of relations, among other things.
The workshop is organized in an interactive form with questions and answers sessions.