The Government will be undertaking the reforestation of 60 hectares of land in the Yallahs River and Hope River watersheds of the Blue Mountains in the upcoming fiscal year. A sum of $197.7 million has been set aside in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to carry out this and other tasks under the Integrated Management of the Yallahs/Hope River Watershed...

A total of $220 million will be spent by the Government on two programmes geared at expanding and improving the island’s water capacity infrastructure. The projects are the construction and maintenance of rural water systems, valued at $120 million; and the rehabilitation of irrigation systems, costing $100 million. This was disclosed by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick...

Effective April 1, some 159 licensed water abstractors will begin paying water abstraction charges/volume-based fees (WAC/VBF). The fee is applicable to all persons who have a license to abstract and use water, and is being applied under the Water Resources (Water Abstraction Charges) Regulations, 2017. The charges are calculated based on the amount of water that the applicant is licensed...

The newly restored water-harvesting facility that serves the Type C Percy Junor Hospital in Spaldings, Manchester, was officially handed over on Wednesday (January 31) by Carib Cement Company Limited, which undertook the work at a cost of $5 million. Finance and the Public Service Minister and Member of Parliament for North East Manchester, Hon. Audley Shaw, welcomed the restoration project,...

The National Water Commission (NWC) will be placing increased focus on rural parishes as it intensifies activities to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) loss. “We are looking at other areas where the NRW is significantly greater than Kingston,” said President of the Commission, Mark Barnett, at a recent JIS Think Tank. “In Kingston, it’s about 60 per cent. Clarendon and St....

President of the National Water Commission (NWC), Mark Barnett, says that while the company produces more than 90 per cent of Jamaica’s total potable water, it is seriously challenged to improve and expand service delivery. Addressing a recent NWC conference on ‘Financing Water Utilities of the Caribbean’ at the RIU Hotel, Montego Bay, he said that to continue producing such...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, says given the critical importance of fresh water supplies, the Ministry and its agencies will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that the island’s fresh water sources are not compromised. He also said that the ability to supply and distribute fresh water to Jamaicans is a crucial...