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Over 29,000 residents of eastern St. Mary are to benefit from improvements to the water system serving their communities, through $800 million in investment by the National Water Commission (NWC) and Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL). Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, who made the announcement in Port Maria, St. Mary, on Friday, March 8, informed...

A total of 1,000 residents of St. Ann, St. Mary and Portland are to receive titles to the properties they occupy. The provision is being made under the Cadastral Mapping and Land Registration project, which involves collaboration between the Government and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The first nine residents from communities in the three parishes, were on Friday...

Activities under the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) have been boosted, with the provision of motor vehicles and equipment by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The donation, inclusive of three utility vehicles and several pieces of land surveying and mapping equipment, with accompanying computers and software, form part of allocations under the Cadastral Mapping and Land Registration in...

Two publications by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), which address the issue of climate change, are to be tabled in Parliament shortly by Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Hon. Robert Pickersgill. The two documents - ‘2012 State of the Jamaican Climate, Information for Resilience Building’ and ‘2012 State of the Jamaican Climate, Information for Resilience Building, Summary...

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...