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Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon Robert Pickersgill, addresses the launch of the Cockpit Country Local Forest Management Plan, on Wednesday, December 11, at the Lowe River United Church, in South Trelawny.

Local Management Plan For Cockpit Country Launched

After years of consultation and scientific research, the Local Management Plan for the Cockpit Country Forest Reserve was officially launched on December 11, at the Lowe River United Church Hall, in South Trelawny. Work on the document lasted from 1998...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (second left), participates in the signing of a contract for the Portmore Sewage Project at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices on December 12. Looking on are (from left): Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Member of Parliament for St. Catherine East Central, Hon. Arnaldo Brown; Minister of State in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development and Member of Parliament for St. Catherine South Eastern, Hon. Colin Fagan (standing); and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Surrey Paving and Aggregate Company Limited, Leslie Chang.

Improved Sewage Facilities for Portmore

Director Policy, Planning , Evaluation and Research at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Novelette Douglas (left), presents the award for Most Improved Project Implementer to representatives of the Montego Bay Marine Park Trust/Montego Bay Fisherman’s Cooperative Society Limited. They are (from second left), Executive Director, Montego Bay Marine Park Trust, Hugh Shim; Board Member, Montego Bay Fisherman’s Co-Operative, Janet Fletcher; and Project Coordinator, Joshua Bailey. Occasion was a Closure and Awards Ceremony for the project at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, on December 10.

Implementers Pleased With Success of Climate Change Project

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (left), cuts the ribbon to a solar power system, to be used for operating the Pleasant Valley water catchment facility, in Clarendon, recently. Others sharing in the occasion are (from second left): Programme Manager for the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, Allison Rangolan-McFarlane; Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr. Arun Kashyap; and National Coordinator for the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), Hyacinth Douglas.

Residents of Pleasant Valley Benefit from Modern Water Harvesting System

Water, Land, Environment, and Climate Change Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (right), performs the symbolic commissioning of the $60 million Mile Gully/Warwick Castle water supply system in St Mary on Thursday (November 28). Sharing the moment are: President, Mile Gully/Warwick Castle Benevolent Group, Ceceline Day (left); and Member of Parliament for Western St. Mary, Joylan Silvera.

1,200 St. Mary Residents Get Piped Water

Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Project Manager, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Mrs. Mary-Ann Gooden, telling JIS News about the RiVAMP project in Negril.

12 years ago Climate ChangeEnvironmentVision 2030

Data Being Collected Through RiVAMP to Mitigate Effects of Climate Change

Accurate collation of data on the impact of climate change on Jamaica’s environment is essential to efforts to mitigate the damaging effects of this phenomenon. Against this background, State agencies, such as the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), have been leading the thrust in this direction, with the implementation of the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Methodology Project (RiVAMP). RiVAMP is...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (left), is in discussion with Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Excellency, Josef Beck, at the opening of the Second Caribbean Workshop on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources, held on Monday, November 25, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.

12 years ago Environment

Jamaica Hosting CARICOM Workshop on Genetic Resources

Stakeholders from across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), over the next three days, will be engaged in a workshop aimed at arriving at a roadmap towards ratification and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources, and their use. The ABS protocol, which emerged from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), will enable increased legal...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (right), addresses students during the opening ceremony for Geographic Information System (GIS) Day 2013, held on November 20, in the Assembly Hall at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

12 years ago Environment

Students Participate in GIS Day Activities

Scores of students from schools across the island converged at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies on Wednesday, November 20, to participate in activities marking Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day 2013. The day was observed under the theme: ‘Geospatial Solutions Addressing Global Challenges’, and saw the students viewing displays from government and private sector companies on...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (second left) and Director, Share Con Limited, Fitzroy Donaldson (second right), sign contracts for the Burnt Savannah/Knoxwood Water Supply Mains Replacement and Upgrading Project during a ceremony at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices on November 14. Sharing in the moment (from left) are: Member of Parliament, St. Elizabeth South Western, Hugh Buchanan; and Member of Parliament, St. Elizabeth North Eastern, Raymond Pryce. Also pictured in the background is: Vice President, Legal Affairs, National Water Commission, Kevin Williams. The project, which is expected to improve access to potable water in North Eastern and South Western St. Elizabeth, is slated to cost $59.6 million.

12 years ago Environment

3,000 Residents to Benefit From Improved Access to Potable Water

Approximately 3,000 residents of communities in North Eastern and South Western St. Elizabeth are to benefit from improved access to potable water, under the Burnt Savannah/Knoxwood Water Supply Mains Replacement and Upgrading Project. The project, which is slated to cost $59.6 million, will be undertaken over 20 months and is expected to commence in two weeks. Beneficiaries include residential and...

Vice President for Sales and Individual Life at Sagicor Life Jamaica, Mark Chisholm (right), greets Director General in the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Mrs. Sharon Crooks (centre), while Head of the National Spatial Management Division at the Ministry, Rohan Richards (right), looks on. Occasion was a GIS Business Forum, held at the Mona Visitor’s Lodge, Wednesday, November 13.

12 years ago Environment

GIS Serving 60 Government Entities

Director General in the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Mrs. Sharon Crooks, is reporting that some 60 Government entities are relying on Geographic Information System (GIS), and are reaping the benefits. The Director General, who represented portfolio Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, at the opening session of a GIS Business Forum, held at the Mona Visitor’s Lodge, on...

Environmental Engineer, National Works Agency (NWA), Dr. Mark Richards, outlining to JIS News the breakwater structures to be constructed to protect the Negril coastline.

12 years ago Environment

Offshore – Breakwater Structure to Protect Negril Coastline

An offshore breakwater system is to be constructed along the Negril coastline, under the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Adaptation Fund Programme. Grant funding in the sum of US$9.9 million has been allocated to the programme, through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and some US$5.4 million of that amount will be used to build the offshore breakwater...

Water, Land, Environment, and Climate Change Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill (right), converses with Water Resources Authority (WRA) Managing Director, Basil Fernandez, during the National Environment and Planning Agency’s (NEPA), Public Lecture on Friday (November 8) at the National Housing Trust’s (NHT) head office, New Kingston, to commemorate World Town Planning Day under the theme: ‘Water: Too Much, Too Little, Unusable or in the Wrong Place’.

12 years ago Environment

Govt to Make Rainwater Harvesting Mandatory for Housing Projects

It will soon be mandatory for all housing developments to have provisions facilitating rain water harvesting whether or not they are connected to a central water supply system. Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, who made the disclosure yesterday (Nov. 8), said that the National Rainwater Harvesting Policy is currently being strengthened to facilitate this undertaking....