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Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, has emphasised the need to increase climate change awareness among Jamaicans, noting that the issue is “everybody’s business.” Mr. Pickersgill said tackling the effects of climate change on Jamaica will require a communal approach, “as we will all be affected.” The Minister was speaking at the launch of a...

Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, says the Ministry will be working closely with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), to guard against environmental breaches as it carries out its various projects. Minister Clarke’s comments came on Friday, July 25, following a tour of the Amity Hall Agro Park in St. Catherine, where NEPA had served the Agro-Investment...

Cabinet has approved contracts worth $468.8 million and US$295,147 to Fluid System Engineering Limited, to provide consulting engineering services for the Jamaica Water Supply Improvement Project, Category B works. The project includes: the Rio Cobre pipeline replacement from Content to Ferry; supply and installation of 20,000 Solid State Domestic Water meters and 3,000 Mechanical Class C large water meters; repairs...

As the 2013 hurricane season intensifies, Acting Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Richard Thompson, says that the National Disaster Committee (NDC) is in "activation mode" and is ready to respond to any weather system. Mr. Thompson was speaking to JIS News following a meeting of the NDC at Jamaica House on Wednesday (July...

The Meteorological Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for low-lying and flood-prone areas of St. Thomas, St. Mary, Portland, Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon effective until 5:00 p.m. Thursday. As the remnants of Tropical Wave Chantal moves across Jamaica, The Meteorological Service reported that satellite imagery and radar reports indicate that moderate to heavy showers and...

The Meteorological Service has discontinued the Tropical Storm Watch for Jamaica as Tropical Storm Chantal has degenerated into a strong tropical wave over the central Caribbean Sea. There is, therefore, no longer the threat of tropical storm conditions. At 4:00 p.m. the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal were located near Latitude 16.5 degrees North, Longitude 73.7 degrees West, or about...

Jamaica’s much anticipated Protected Areas System Master Plan (PASMP) is expected to be completed and presented to Cabinet within the next few months. Consultant in the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Leonie Barnaby, made the pronouncement as she addressed regional representatives at the opening of the mid-term evaluation workshop on the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund’s (CEPF) Caribbean...

Following the meeting of the National Disaster Committee (NDC) convened at the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday June 10, 2013, chaired by the Honourable Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has activated the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) at level 1. The Prime Minister head of the NDC after receiving...

A Tropical Storm Watch remains in effect for Jamaica as weakening Tropical Storm Chantal moves quickly westward and could pass close to the island’s eastern coastline. This means that tropical storm conditions pose a possible threat to Jamaica within 36 hours. At 1:00 p.m. the centre of Tropical Storm Chantal was estimated to be near Latitude 16.5 degrees North, Longitude...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has been advised by The Meteorological Service that a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Jamaica as Tropical Storm Chantal moves westward and could pass close to the island’s eastern coastline. The ODPEM is advising that the storm could possibly impact the eastern sections of the island if it shifts...

Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Lt. Col. Oral Khan, says that while Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Jamaica, are not the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, they must play a part in the mitigation agenda. He said that as Jamaica works towards Vision 2030, “we recognise that we not...

The quality and reliability of water supply to over 200,000 residents in the Corporate Area should be significantly improved, as the Mona and Hope water treatment plants have been rehabilitated at a cost of $1.6 billion. The two facilities have a combined output of more than 40 per cent of the National Water Commission’s (NWC) water production capacity in Kingston...