Shadow Minister of Environment and Climate Resilience Omar Newell is calling on the Government to immediately transfer the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development (MEGID) to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

NEPA currently falls under MEGID, whose Portfolio Minister is the Prime Minister, Dr Andrew Holness. As a result, the same portfolio responsible for promoting major infrastructure expansion and economic growth also oversees Jamaica’s principal environmental regulator.

Newell said the issue is not partisan, but structural. “Environmental regulation must not only be independent, it must be seen to be independent. When the authority approving large-scale developments sits within the same portfolio driving those developments, the perception of conflict becomes unavoidable.”

He noted that Jamaica has previously structured its environmental governance differently and more coherently. During the second administration of Portia Simpson Miller, NEPA operated within the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, giving environmental policy and regulation a clear institutional home while formally integrating climate change at the ministerial level.

That arrangement, Newell argued, demonstrated that development and environmental integrity can coexist within a framework that protects regulatory credibility.

International models reflect a similar principle. In the United Kingdom, the Environment Agency operates under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs rather than an economic growth ministry. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency functions as an independent federal agency. In each case, environmental oversight is structured to maintain institutional insulation and public trust.

Newell welcomed the creation of a Ministry of Environment and Climate Change but cautioned that the ministry’s effectiveness depends on regulatory alignment. “A ministry tasked with climate resilience and environmental protection cannot be fully effective if the country’s principal regulator remains outside its supervision. Policy without regulatory authority weakens coherence and accountability.”

He stressed that the moment demands institutional clarity. “At a time when Jamaica faces stronger hurricanes, coastal erosion, and increasing water insecurity, we cannot afford governance arrangements that undermine confidence in environmental decision-making. Sustainable development requires balance, transparency, and structural integrity.”

Newell is urging the Government to realign NEPA and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority under the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and to strengthen statutory safeguards to ensure transparency and regulatory independence. “Environmental protection must never appear subordinate to economic expansion. Our governance framework must reflect long-term national interest.”