Permanent Secretary for the Environment Joshua Wycliffe

Most of the delays in the Environmental Impact Assessment is because of incomplete paperwork.

The Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a process used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of proposed developments.

Permanent Secretary for the Environment Joshua Wycliffe says there is a team which looks into the applications to make sure everything is in place before it is processed.

Wycliffe has instructed officials to only accept a complete package of the application.

“If you are applying, make sure all the boxes are ticked, all the paperwork is submitted at once. Only then the officials will accept it and if the process is still further delayed for no legitimate reason then you should be able to escalate your complaints to my office.”

Wycliffe says a new complaint management system has been put in place which will be launched soon.

He says through this system people will directly be able to complain and let the Ministry know if there is any genuine delays in the assessment process.

Biodiversity Loss is one of the things that the assessment directly addresses.