$7.5 Million to Strengthen Chemical Project

Activities under the National Quick Start Programme Trust Fund Project will be bolstered this financial year, following a $7.5 million injection in the initiative.

This is contained in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

Formerly known as the Globally Harmonized System of the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, the project is being implemented by the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change.

It aims to build Jamaica’s capacity to manage chemicals in an environmentally sound manner, in keeping with the 2020 target of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM).

Physical targets envisaged under the programme include: preparation of drafting instructions for legislation to govern the management of chemicals; updating the national chemical profile, slated for implementation by this year; development of a National Chemicals Emergency Response Plan (NCERP); training of officers in the handling of hazardous materials; developing and implementing  a national programme for the environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic waste; and undertaking a mercury and asbestos inventory.

The allocation for this fiscal year will go towards conducting an inventory of priority chemicals (Mercury and Asbestos); commence the training of officers/operators that handle hazardous materials; commence the development and implementation of a national programme for the environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic wastes.

The project, which is being funded by the United Nations Environmental Programme, is scheduled for completion in April 2015.