Land Owners Urged to Utilise Properties Wisely

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, has urged land owners across the country to be mindful of how they utilise their properties, as this will eventually impact the natural resources and the air quality of the environment.

The Minister was speaking at the Ministry’s  land titling ceremony, held  at the St. Matthew’s Anglican Church Hall, in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, on November 4.

Some 106 residents of Santa Cruz and adjoining communities were presented with new Certificates of Title, qualifying them as land owners, under the LAMP/GEOLAND project.

“I want to remind our new landowners that land is a critical natural resource and what we do is critical to the health of our watersheds, our water supplies and also our efforts to achieve sustainable development,” the Minister said.

He emphasized that the land owners that communities should always be places where families can grow and thrive and a place where children can play and beautiful gardens and fruit trees flourish.

“If our watersheds are degraded, if trees are cut down and our forests are utilized in an unsustainable manner to make way for concrete and steel, if our air and water are being polluted by human activities, then it goes without question that our environment is dying and by extension, our communities are also dying.  A healthy environment is a symbol of a healthy community that is alive, prosperous and thriving,” the Minister said.

He reminded the residents that while they need to earn a living, they also have a responsibility to preserve the environment through environmentally friendly farming techniques and practices, as “economic development cannot and must not come at a cost to the environment.”

“One method of ensuring that your land and your community are healthy is by planting, and where necessary, replanting trees.  By doing so, you will improve your air quality as trees sustain life by absorbing the carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels and providing life giving oxygen. Trees are the lungs of our planet,” Mr. Pickersgill said.