For the Ministry of Environment, this pandemic, if anything, has accelerated the speed at which they are “going digital” and has given a new push to hasten their implementation plans towards an online transaction/permit processing system.
Ministry of Environment permanent secretary Joshua Wycliffe says as the world grapples with the COVID-19, the ministry considers it an imperative to take into account what the COVID (and post-COVID era) is going to mean for those in the regulatory business (environmental permitting).
The ministry had sent out an advert a week ago advising businesses on their business continuity plan and how it might impact other businesses.
In the advertisement the ministry had said after careful consideration, they had made the difficult choice to temporarily work on lean staff/service/staff bubble/model at the ministry.
It said this would help them control and mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on businesses and comply with the Fijian government recovery strategy.
The ministry also added that this temporary arrangement might result in potential delays in the processing of applications by the department of environment, including EIA, waste and pollution control/recycling permits, permits under the Ozone Depletion Act 1998 and the Endangered and Protected Species Act 2002.
“The advertisement that went out over a week ago was to ensure, the department does not lose the business continuity we have built with our client groups.
“Through that communique we wanted to ensure businesses do not lose out on any urgent business need — and hence provided contact details of key personnel at the department. The department will look into how best the matter can be handled online remotely,” said Mr Wycliffe.
He said never before had the ministry been so squarely dependent on business continuity beyond their physical workstations than now.
“However, the bright side to this is, the ministry has used the best part of the past 14 months to plan and device a custom-fit digital permitting system for the Department of Environment.
“This now would mean, very soon the department will be making decisions that combines and balances our team expertise with new technology to the advantage of our business applicants and proponents.
“A key message from our minister (Hon Dr. Reddy) is for the ministry to be ‘post-lockdown’ ready and ensure a seamless processing of business transactions avoiding backlogs once the lockdown is lifted,” he said.
