|
Water has always been an important part of
Jamaica’s culture and economics. We live near water; bathe in it,
play, work and fish in it. Water is part of many products we buy or
sell. We are surrounded by water and it remains at the center of our
lives. So on March 22 join us as we observed World Water Day under the
theme Water and Culture. This initiative which grew out of the 1992
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in
Rio de Janeiro is celebrated internationally.
Here in Jamaica, the National Environment and
Planning Agency (NEPA) in collaboration with the Ginger House
Environmental Group and Bowden Pen Farmers’ Group have organized
activities to mark this important event. The day’s events will begin
with an opening ceremony followed by tours of the communities of
Ginger House, Bowden Pen and Mill bank in the Rio Grande Valley in
Portland.
Other activities will include displays mounted at
the Resource Centre, Holywell Recreational Area, in the Blue and John
Crow Mountains National Park and Fullers’ Park at the Ginger House
Community in Portland. The display at Holywell will be available for
viewing between Wednesday March 22 and Saturday March 25, 2006.
World Water Day Decade 2005-2015
In 2005, World Water Day marked the start of a
new United Nations (UN) International Decade for Action on water. “The
Water for Life Decade 2005-2015 will give a high profile to
implementing water-related programmes and the participation of women.
The UN hopes that the Decade will boost the chances of achieving
international water-related goals and the United Nations Millennium
Declaration.”
Each year, a different United Nations (UN) agency
coordinates World Water Day activities worldwide, and a theme is
chosen to reflect the many facets of freshwater resources. World
Water Day 2006 will be celebrated through the leadership of The United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
NEPA encourages all of Jamaica this World Water
Day to go out and plant a tree and in so doing assist in the
replenishing of the quantity and quality of Jamaica’s water resources.
|
