The Auditor General's Department has said a follow-up audit revealed improvements in the operations of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).
The findings of the latest performance audit were tabled in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
In 2010, the Auditor General's Department conducted an audit which outlined weaknesses in NEPA's monitoring and enforcement activities. The report tabled on Wednesday said NEPA has since made greater use of its enforcement tools to increase compliance.
From April 2010 to March 2015, enforcement activities totalled 3,604, compared to 922 for the previous assessed period. NEPA’s record keeping of enforcement actions also improved.
It investigated 90 per cent of complaints from April 2010 to March 2015, compared to 42 per cent in the prior audit report.
On the other hand, the Auditor General's Department said NEPA’s monitoring targets were not appropriately aligned with the number of approved permits and licences.
It added that NEPA did not conduct the required monitoring on a timely basis to ensure that approved activities were being carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions.
The department found that for 60 permits and licences, there were significant gaps of up to five years between the time of issuance and the conduct of the first monitoring visit.
Amendments to NRCA Act
In the meantime, NEPA has prepared draft amendments to the NRCA Act which propose increased fines.
The agency said drafting instructions will be submitted to the portfolio Ministry by next March.
This follows a gap analysis of the Wildlife Protection and NRCA Acts.
It indicated that the fines were not a deterrent to environmental breaches.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
