Minister Jumeau at Friday's press conference

A sustained crackdown on environment offenders and a continued drive to develop partnerships with the private sector will be among the priorities for environment staff for 2004, Minister Ronny Jumeau has announced.

Poachers and other violators who "destroy and steal" from the environment will have to answer to severe repercussions, he said in a press conference on Friday January 23, at his new office in Independence House.

Noting several incidents last year whereby poachers of various sorts were caught by authorities, the minister said that environment officials would continue to work with the police, the Coast Guard and other relevant organisations to bring such offenders to justice.

Minister Jumeau also said he would be taking some issues to the National Assembly, one of which includes the "tightening up" of laws and sentencing policies, noting that the ministry had encountered loopholes that in some cases prohibited it from pursuing action against violators.

"There's no use punishing people if the punishment is not a deterrent to the people committing the crime," he said.

But legislative changes are not the only means of enforcement, Minister Jumeau explained.  Apart from legal action, restrictive administrative procedures could be initiated to act as a deterrent as well.

He said the ministry would also seek out ways to counteract an abundance of littering in the country that was noticed especially during the Clean Up the World Campaign in September last year.  Measures could include spot fines for offenders, he said.

On the heels of a number of environmental ventures involving the private sector last year, Minister Jumeau said the ministry would continue to build environmental partnerships with the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). 

The first announcement of such a partnership for 2004 will come this week, involving one NGO teaming up with a yet-to-be-named businessman, whom Minister Jumeau described as a "new face on the scene," at least as far as the ministry is concerned.

The strain that human action and development is putting on the country, especially in terms of the flooding that has been noticeably prevalent of late, also needs to be taken up, he said.

To this end, the minister said that environment personnel would be working diligently with the planning authority to make sure future developments, even houses, make as minimal impact on the environment as possible.

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