Gov’t Taking Steps to Reduce Pollution of the Rio Cobre

The Government will soon announce changes to be effected to reduce pollution of the Rio Cobre in St. Catherine.

This was disclosed by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda.

“Very soon, we will make some announcement in terms of timelines and approaches that will be taken. We have already met with four of the largest operations in that space and we’re aligning on timelines in terms of changes to their manufacturing process,” he indicated.

While acknowledging that the proposed changes are “very expensive”, Senator Samuda assured that “there is commitment to get it done, both from the private sector and from the government side”.

“But that will be a significant programme of work that will take a lot of support,” he emphasised.

The Minister was speaking during Wednesday’s (June 5) symposium on ecosystems restoration in observance of World Environment Day.

The forum was held at The Summit in New Kingston under the theme ‘Accelerating Ecosystems Restoration – A Call to Action’.

Meanwhile, Senator Samuda said collaborative approaches and significant steps are needed to address biodiversity loss and pollution.

Against this background, he welcomed the significant stakeholder turnout for the symposium, noting that “this is what is required to build that coalition of national support if we’re to make, in some cases, very expensive policy decisions in terms of our consumption and in terms of our land use”.

“We’re going to need everybody. We’re going to need political unity, agreement with the private sector, civil society, students [and] academia. It’s going to be very important, because when we take the discussion on pollution, it means changes in the manufacturing and engineering processes,” the Minister emphasised.

He maintained, “If we’re going to target the issue of effluent discharge, for instance, we’re going to have to make changes that will be expensive for our manufacturing sector, which does have an inflationary impact.”

“We’re committed to making these changes but it requires a coalition to build the support to facilitate these discussions, because it is not easy,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Senator Samuda said the Government remains resolute to implementing measures for greater protection of the environment.

“Jamaica, over the last three years, would have completed its protection of the Cockpit Country protected area. It would have completed its protection of the Black River Morass and nearshore environment… [and] its protection of the Pedro Cays. Jamaica is moving in the right direction where this is concerned,” he said.

The Minister advised that work continues to increase Jamaica’s land mass and marine environment, as well as address other areas of pollution and waste separation.

He further noted that several new environmental policies have been tabled in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Leonard Francis, called for a multi-sectoral approach to accelerate the restoration of ecosystems.

The symposium formed part of activities marking National Environment Awareness Week from June 1 to 7 under the theme ‘Accelerating Ecosystem Restoration – a Call to Action’.

It aimed to highlight work being done by government and non-governmental organisations and the private sector in restoring Jamaica’s ecosystems.