Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie | NEPA doesn’t have an image problem, but performance problem

The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), along with other environmental advocates, was invited by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to attend a focus group meeting on January 27. The purpose was to have ‘open and constructive dialogue, allowing NEPA to hear directly from environmentalists on regulatory effectiveness, areas of concern, and opportunities for strengthening environmental protection and governance’.

Once the meeting began, however, it became clear that the discussion was not with NEPA officials themselves but with a consultant engaged to assess what was framed as NEPA’s ‘image problem’ with external stakeholders. As we understood it, the assessment was being conducted with funding support from Global Affairs Canada.

This framing, that NEPA has an “image problem”, immediately raised concerns. Many of us in the room openly scoffed. NEPA does not have an image problem. It has a performance problem. And perhaps even more troubling, after decades of studies, reports, consultations, and recommendations that have been published and discussed, it also appears to have a listening problem.

SAME ISSUES, AGAIN AND AGAIN

During the discussion, participants repeated the same core problems: NEPA suffers from a resource problem. Communication with the public is poor, particularly when it comes to sharing critical environmental information that citizens need to make informed decisions – not just celebratory messages about international environmental days.

Through its actions and decisions, NEPA often appears to prioritise development over environmental protection and conservation. Collaboration with civil society remains weak even though many environmental organisations conduct research, generate data, and work directly with communities. Too often, this work is dismissed or sidelined on the grounds that civil society is “not technical enough”. That assumption is deeply flawed.

Many CSOs are highly technical, deeply competent, and remarkably effective, delivering results with limited resources, reaching communities the state struggles to engage with, and filling critical gaps left by underresourced agencies.

What frustrated many of us also was the fact that most, if not all these concerns have been raised before. None of them were new. They are documented. Studied. Published. In many cases, NEPA itself has commissioned reviews and assessments that identify these same shortcomings and outline practical recommendations. But it seems the studies themselves are the outcome.

WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE

Rather than revisiting long lists of recommendations, it may be more useful to focus on three core areas that must be addressed if Jamaica is serious about environmental protection and sustainable development.

• First, Jamaica needs strong environmental governance – This means clear laws, consistent enforcement, transparency in decision-making, and accountability at the highest levels. It means regulatory agencies that are properly resourced, independent, and empowered to act in the public interest even when that conflicts with powerful economic actors.

• Second, Jamaica needs empowered people – Access to environmental information, meaningful public participation, and respect for civil society expertise are not optional extras. They are fundamental to good governance. Communities must be informed early, consulted genuinely, and treated as partners, not obstacles.

• Third, Jamaica needs a healthy environment – Nature must be able to sustain itself, forests, rivers, wetlands, and coasts functioning as they should. Healthy ecosystems also sustain us: they provide clean air and water, support food systems, and protect communities from climate impacts. Protecting the environment for nature means protecting the foundation of life for everyone.

WHERE ACCOUNTABILITY BREAKS DOWN

NEPA is the lead government agency mandated to protect Jamaica’s natural and built environments and to guide land use and spatial planning in support of sustainable development. Its failures on the ground are evident. Even after the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate Change, NEPA still operates under the larger super-ministry structure. It does not report to the environment minister Matthew Samuda but instead, to the Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, who heads the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development. The main environmental regulator does not appear to report to the environment ministry. These structural complexities show that the problems are systemic.

Weak environmental governance has real consequences. Bauxite mining, deep-sea mining, oil exploration, and the cumulative impacts of hotels, roads, and other infrastructure projects on ecosystems all demonstrate how unsustainable development continues unchecked. Planning and enforcement failures across the island further illustrate the gap between policy and practice.

Fixing NEPA will not solve all of Jamaica’s environmental challenges, but unless environmental governance arrangements are taken seriously, and unless NEPA recognises that its challenges go far beyond public relations, there will, no doubt, be another focus group, another assessment, and another consultation in the future while the natural environment and public health continues to be degraded.

Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie is an environmental scientist and chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.