A decree setting modalities on access to information and the participation of members of the public in the decision process in matters of environment in Cameroon is being prepared.

A proposed regulation to that effect was under scrutiny during an inter-ministerial meeting at the Centre for Information and Environmental Documentation, CIDE, in the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development, MINEPDED.

The meeting, which took place recently, also had members from civil society organisations in attendance.

Representing the Minister, the Head of Legal Division in MINEPDED, Jean Kenfack, who also moderated deliberations at the meeting, said the regulation, when endorsed, would serve as a tool for the population to have easy access to information on the environment.

He disclosed that the draft regulation was initiated by both Government and civil society organisations working in the domain of the environment. He particularly hailed the Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme-Cameroon, BDCP-C, for standing by the side of Government nationally and internationally on several occasions as the need arose.

Kenfack pointed out that the Executive Secretary of that organisation has, for so many years, been working on issues that have greatly enhanced governance in environmental management and conservation in Cameroon. He thanked all the participants for the valuable inputs made to improve the draft document and promised that it would immediately and effectively go operational when endorsed by hierarchy.

The Executive Secretary of BDCP-C, Augustine B. Njamnshi, who is a jurist with specialty in Biosafety and Environmental Law, expressed delight for being part of the process and for working with open minded people. He made reference to articles of the 1992 Rio Declaration in regards to rights of citizens to information on issues of the environment that emanated from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Hoping that the other stages leading up to the endorsement of the text would be faster, Njamnshi told The Post that article 7 of the August 5, 1996 framework law relating to the management of the environment in Cameroon, gives room for citizens to have access to environmental information as well as participate in the decision making process.

He said when BDCP-C conducted a field study between 2006 and 2008, it was discovered that the population is largely uninformed on issues of the environment. “How then can citizens fully participate in the decision making process if they are not informed on what is happening in the sector?” he questioned.

“The 1996 framework law stipulates that access to information and participation of the public in the decision making process in matters of the environment would be spelt out by a decree and that is the reason why BDCP-C with support from the World Resources Institute and the Government, initiated the draft text on which we are brainstorming on today,” Njamnshi added.

Apart from general provisions and definition of terms within the framework of the proposed decree, a numbers of obligations are spelt out on how public authorities must dish out information on the environment in their keeping to members of the public voluntarily or when it is requested for.

However, environmental information touching on issues of justice, parliament, national defence, intellectual property rights, public security as well as confidential information on trade and industries previewed by texts enforced and in common accord with stakeholders, is excluded.