Wednesday, April 04, 2007

EMA a Toothless Bulldog

Trinidad Guardian
April 4, 2007

The Environmental Management Authority (EMA) has been described as a “toothless bulldog” by the United National Congress (UNC).

A press release issued by the UNC yesterday said:

“So the EMA has given Alutrint the green light after ‘carefully’ studying information that itself is inconclusive. What rubbish from this toothless bulldog.

“The truth and the facts are—as we have always said—the EMA is a toothless bulldog! It is a puppet of the PNM. It cannot and will not stand up to the PNM.”

Chief executive officer of the EMA, Dr Dave Mc Intosh, came in for attack after he announced on Monday that Alutrint was given the green light by the EMA to go ahead with construction of the smelter plant in La Brea.

The release also said nothing in Mc Intosh’s statement “makes any sense and provides any justification for the clearance.”

The release made reference to Mc Intosh’s statement on Monday.

“The task the EMA will now face...is one of monitoring and understanding what the baseline conditions are, so we can examine any shifts in terms of the human health of the area or impacts on vegetation and wildlife,” it said.

The release questioned how could the EMA grant a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) to Alutrint if it was now setting out to understand certain information.

“How is the EMA protecting the lives and safety of the citizenry if it is taking this reactionary approach to see what adverse effects arise and, then, hope that Alutrint regulates itself?” it asked.

The release also noted it had no confidence in the EMA, which was tainted with political influence from the PNM.

“This Government likes to run roughshod against the wishes of the people and is demonstrating it is willing to kill every single citizen just to put a few dollars into the pockets of its friends,” added the release.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home