Waste Water Regulations to be Gazetted this Year

The Waste Water and Sludge Regulations are expected to be gazetted this year, which is being observed as the International Year of Sanitation.
“Work has already begun with sewage industry codes for the sector,” Leary Myers, Chief Executive Officer of the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA), said at a two-day national workshop on Land-Based Sources of Pollution (LBS) to the Coastal and Marine Environment, at the Terra Nova Hotel on January 15.
He pointed out that the codes satisfied some of Jamaica’s obligations under the LBS Protocol, which is a mechanism to reduce and mitigate land based sources of coastal and marine pollution. He also noted that specific implementations were included in the protocol.
“The LBS Protocol sets the stage for the development and adoption of future annexes to address other priority sources and activities of pollution,” Mr. Myers said.
The workshop was a collaborative effort between NEPA, the lead agency, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Among the objectives of the workshop were: to disseminate information on obligations and the benefit of the protocol; to sensitize stakeholders on the issues of monitoring, approvals and waste management as they relate to pollution from land-based sources and activities to the coastal and marine environment; to assess the status of Jamaica in ratifying the protocol and to identify priority areas of assistance that the UNEP/Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating Unit and other relevant regional and international agencies may be able to provide directly.
“The workshop is an important step in Jamaica’s commitment to this process,” Mr. Myers said.Commenting further, he said that it was also a timely event as it marked almost a decade since the contracted parties adopted a protocol concerning pollution from LBS and activities at the Cartagena Convention in Aruba on October 6, 1999.
“Sixteen contracted parties to that Convention signed the final act of the LBS protocol, which is why we are assembled here today,” he noted.
“The start of the year is a very opportune moment to pause for reflection as well as to mobilize plans in terms of the gains made in Jamaica recently in reference to the LBS protocol,” the CEO added.
This year also marks the International Year of the Reef, which is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability. “This year’s focus will serve to motivate people to take action to protect these precious natural resources which are also addressed under the LBS Protocol,” he noted.