Holness vows to protect Jamaica’s natural environment
Tatyana Bromfield / Our Today
Addressing a recent joint sitting of th Houses of Parliament, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared that his administration has designated several areas across the island, including the Cockpit Country and the Black River Morass, as ‘protected areas’.
Acccording to Holness, the country hopes to have 30 per cent of its marine areas and 30 per cent of its land mass protected by 2030, in accordance with the 2030 Development Plan.
The prime minister shared that this was the very reason institutions such as the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) were created, to monitor and regulate the protection of the environment and advocate sustainable development.
PEDRO BANKS PROTECTED AREA TO BE CONSIDERED BY CABINET SOON
He declared that the Government would be working alongside and assisting these institutions in any way possible to ensure the 2030 goal is met.
A proposal for the approval of the Pedro Banks Protected Area will be brought to the Cabinet soon, said the prime minister.
Measures will also be taken to protect the Rio Cobre, which recently suffered the effects of a fish kill caused by the spilling of caustic effluent from the nearby Windalco plant.
People in the area, who depend on the Rio Cobre, were also affected by the breach.
Holness has indicated that NEPA would serve a notice of intention to bring legal action against Windalco for breaching the Wildlife Protection Act and the Natural Resources Conservation Act.
According to Peter Knight, CEO of NEPA, “the serving of the notice of intention to suspend is going to have a significant impact on the operations of the facility”.
Said Knight: “We are not only dealing with the volumes of trade effluent that is being held in the effluent ponds but we’re also dealing with the completion of the effluent pond, the environmental performance bond and the environmental permit that allows the company to undertake mining operations.”
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