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The National Water Commission (NWC) is appealing to residents and business people in Negril to desist from purchasing water from illegal truck operators. NWC Vice President for Non Revenue Water and Energy Cost Reduction, Mark Blair, said that unauthorised persons are taking water from the NWC system and selling it for up to $10 per gallon. This, he said, is...

With an allotment of $1.01 billion to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Members of Parliament (MPs) have been equipped to better serve their constituents. The funds have been set aside in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. This allocation will be used to cover administrative and other operating expenses and provide grants to the 63...

Consultant with the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), Dr. Oscar Coto, says Jamaica has an opportunity to tap into international financing that can assist with its efforts at reducing the impacts of climate change. This, he said, can be accomplished through advancement of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Programme of Activities (PoA) as well as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). “If...

The National Water Commission (NWC) has embarked on several measures to improve water delivery in the Negril area during the short term, and to develop additional sources within 18 months. This was announced by Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, while addressing hoteliers and other stakeholders at a function held at Breezes Negril, on April...

The Meteorological Service (Met Service) has listed Kingston and St. Andrew among the parishes worst affected by severe drought conditions affecting the island. Acting Director of the Met Service, Evon Thompson, says data collected at the end of February showed that with the exception of St. Ann and St. James, all other parishes were experiencing below normal rainfall levels, or...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment, and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickergill has lauded the Ewarton Watershed and Farmer’s Co-operative Society for its role in protecting the environment and safeguarding the country’s natural resources. “I am very proud of this group…what you have set out to do through your organisation, namely: preserving the environment through improved farmer techniques and environmentally friendly...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is assisting farmers to better market their crops by strengthening its information gathering system. This is according portfolio Minister, Hon. Roger Clarke, who lamented that lack of proper marketing techniques have often hampered the productivity of the nation’s farmers. “To tackle the problems with production, marketing has always been a serious problem. If the...

Ronald Jackson Heads to CDEMA An intellectual, hard worker and visionary were some of the accolades echoed by staff and colleagues who bade farewell to outgoing Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Ronald Hugh Jackson, at a reception held at the agency’s offices in Kingston. The mood at Thursday’s (March 28) ceremony was reflective...

More than 20 young people from the communities of Orange Park and Charlemont in St. Catherine were inducted into the National Housing Trust’s (NHT) Environmental Club, during a ceremony at the Charlemont High School on Thursday (March 28). The students join a growing number of young people, in more than 130 communities islandwide, who are being empowered by the NHT’s...

Some 2,000 residents in the New Roads community of Westmoreland have welcomed the rehabilitation of a catchment tank that will ease the daily challenge they have faced over the years in securing potable water. The tank, which is located in the deep rural section of the parish where there is a heavy dependence on rain water, was rehabilitated at a...

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Jamaica, Dr. Arun Kashyap, is suggesting an analysis of the potential ecomonic benfits to be derived from the country’s forests. Dr. Kashyap, who is also the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator to Jamaica, notes that the economic potential of forests are often not recognized by countries blessed with these resources. In noting...

Jamaicans have been urged to conserve water, in light of the drought conditions currently being experienced throughout the island. This call came from Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, as he addressed the opening of the Ministry’s two-day exposition, held on the lawns of Devon House, St. Andrew, on March 22. “It is incumbent on...