The Environmental Quality program seeks to improve the quality of the Environment by monitoring and enforcing Environmental Laws and Regulations in order to prevent and control environmental pollution as well as protect, improve and promote sound Environmental Management. The Objectives are achievable through collective efforts of the Technicians, Politicians, and the communities with optimal resources allocation and the judicious use of the allocated resources and timely, non-interference and impartial dispensation of justice. This program set to strengthen the institutional framework for environmental coordination and management at local and national levels with a strategy of surveillance and enforcement of environmental laws within an integrated legal and institutional framework in the light to protect the welfare, health and quality of life of Gambia Residents through sustainable environmental management.

Roles and Responsibilities

• The Program treats the environment as a whole.
• Ensure that environmental standards and guidelines are set and applied
• Monitors the quality of all environmental media: Air, Water, & Land
• Monitors activities that impact the environment: e.g. industrial emissions, liquid and solid wastes etc.
• Sensitization and awareness raising
• Advocacy and participatory interventions
• Technical and financial support to Environmental activities
• Enforcement

The Environmental Quality Program is mandated to implement set of activities as prescribed and/or enshrined in the National Environment Management Act 1994 and the Agency’s Strategy objectives designed to manage, monitor and control national air, land and water quality, with particular emphasis on pollution control and contemporary environmental issues. It also enforces laws relating to environmental quality inter alia.

Some of the Regulations implemented under this program are:

• Environmental Discharge permitting 1999
• Anti- littering Regulations 2007
• Ban on Plastic Bags Order, 2015
• Environmental Quality Standards 1999
• Environmental Protection (Prevention of Dumping Act) 1988; chapter 72:02

Develop and implement action plan based on set priorities for monitoring

• Setting environmental monitoring standards and guidelines
• Prepare and coordinate monitoring program
• implementing control measures for general environmental pollution based on acceptable standards and guidelines
• Establishment of complaint bureau for environmental nuisances
• Establish multi-disciplinary working groups relevant to environmental quality
• Sensitization, awareness creation, advocacy and enforcement
• Solid and liquid wastes monitoring and coordination
• Guidance and coordination of disposals of potential contamination items
• Coordination of community cleansing exercises
• Industrial monitoring
• Coordinating enforcements and compliances to environmental contraband products (single use plastics, chemicals, etc.)
• Sensitization to enhancing positive environmental attitudes and compliances to environmental laws
Developing documents to augmenting standards and quality of the environment.

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