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Plans are far advanced for the merger of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) with the Forest Conservation Fund (FCF)/Jamaica Protected Areas Trust (JPAT). The amalgamation of the agencies is expected to take effect on April 1. Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, said that the Attorney General’s Chambers has commented on the legal documents...

Legislation to facilitate the withdrawal of $11.4 billion annually from the National Housing Trust (NHT), to provide budgetary support over the next four years, was passed on Tuesday, March 5, in the House of Representatives. The Bill, entitled the National Housing Trust (Special Provisions) Act 2013, was piloted by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips. The...

The Government is looking to see how it can improve assistance to residents in drought stricken parishes. Approximately half the island is now being affected by worsening drought conditions due to the current dry season, which is approaching its half-way mark.  Data from the Meteorological Office of Jamaica (Met Office) reveals that already seven parishes have been experiencing drought conditions...

Following reports of a chemical odour pervading the vicinity of the Central Sorting Office (CSO), South Camp Road on Thursday, February 28, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) wishes to advise the public that all major roads except Norman Road have been re-opened. Preliminary investigations from the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) have revealed that the...

The Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation (HZPF) has received a well-needed donation of some $4 million, which will go toward protecting animals that are found only in Jamaica. The funds are being made available under the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, and will go toward the Zoo's biodiversity project, ‘The Establishment of Sanctuaries for Protected...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, has given the assurance that every effort will be made to protect the environment as the country seeks to benefit from the extraction of rare earth elements from red mud deposits. “We will ensure that from ground zero, we plan for sustainability, not only in relation to the project itself,...

The National Water Commission (NWC) has embarked on a $3 billion rehabilitation programme targeting some 445 water tanks islandwide for repairs, among other activities. This undertaking forms part of overall drought mitigation efforts being pursued by the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change. Speaking at the recent commissioning of the Cascade water system in St. Ann, Portfolio Minister,...

Some 6,000 residents of Cascade, White Sands and Bohemia, in the parish of St. Ann, have been provided with potable water, piped into their homes. On February 14, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, commissioned into service the water supply system at Cascade, built at a cost of approximately $45 million. In his address at...

The Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, on Tuesday, February 12, unveiled an advertising campaign, which seeks to draw national attention to the critical issue of climate change. A number of Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses have been emblazoned with slogans such as: ‘Climate Change: We have to Change,’ and messages urging persons to protect the environment,...

The pilot plant being established to undertake the extraction of rare earth elements from the island’s bauxite waste (red mud), will have no negative impact on the environment, says Executive Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), Dr. Paris Lyew-Ayee. The assurance has come following concerns raised by the Jamaica Environment Trust about the potential environmental impact of the pilot...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, has welcomed the island’s first Virtual Reference Station Network (VRS), gFIX.net, as a useful tool in mapping natural hazards. The Ministry’s Spatial Management Division handed over the system to the National Land Agency (NLA) at a launch event held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, on Thursday, February...

The Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change has officially launched and commissioned its Virtual Reference Station (VRS) Network, gFIX.net, which is expected to revolutionise the surveying and construction sectors. This will effectively reduce production time, as well as the cost of cadastral surveying, portfolio Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill said. He was speaking at the launch and handing over...