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Come Saturday, September 15,
Jamaica joins the international community in observing the
twenty-second anniversary of International Coastal Clean-Up Day (ICCD). The
National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has organized three
clean-ups which will take place at: Half Moon Bay, Hellshire in St.
Catherine, Port Royal, in Kingston and along the banks of the Rio
Grande River, in Portland. This year marks Jamaica’s twelfth year
participating in the annual environmental activity.
Volunteers wishing to
participate are invited to contact NEPA’s David Reid at: 754-7540,
ext. 2402, by Wednesday, September 12. Limited transportation will
be provided. Buses will leave NEPA’s offices at 10 Caledonia Avenue,
Kingston 5 for Portland at: 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. for Hellshire,
on Saturday, September 15. Volunteers are invited to take along
their hats, bottled water and sun block. Lunches will be served.
Last year, two hundred and
eleven (211) bags of non-recyclable wastes weighing 2315 pounds
(1050 kg) were collected at two sites during the Agency’s
International Coastal Clean-up Day (ICCD) activities, on September
16. An additional 50 bags of recyclable materials weighing 1284
pounds (528kg) were also collected. A combined total of 250
volunteers participated. Schools, community groups and other civic
organizations participated along with NEPA, other Government
agencies and Private Sector entities.
On the third Saturday of
September, each year, NEPA gears up for ICCD activities. The
importance of the event is marked by the numerous clean-ups
organized by other organizations, including environmental
non-Government organizations (ENGOs) across Jamaica, on that day.
ICCD was, originally, observed as a local beach clean-up in Texas in
the United States (US) which was initiated by the Washington D.C.
based Centre for Marine Sciences.
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