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The National Environment and Planning Agency
(NEPA), is emphasizing increased enforcement activities against
operators of sewage treatment plants who violate standards set by
the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, (NRCA). According to
Peter Knight, Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at NEPA, this is
one of several initiatives which it will implement to maximize
compliance levels across Jamaica. He made the announcement earlier
this week at the Opening Ceremony of the five-day GEF-IWCAM waste
water training workshop, at the Rose Hall Resort Hotel, in Montego
Bay, St. James.
Mr. Knight said that, the NRCA which is an
advisory board with which the NEPA consults on key environmental
decisions, should also set Performance Bonds. This he said would
ensure that standards are adhered to and maintained. The Bond would
enable NEPA to: provide economic incentives to encourage private
sector investment in the sewerage sector; promote government/donor
agencies participation in the wastewater sector such as the PAHO/UNEP
involvement in evaluation of wastewater plants and finalise the
National Sanitation Policy remembering that sewage management does
not mean sanitation but is rather a component of it.
NEPA will also revive the Jamaica Association
of Wastewater Operators, which Mr. Knight said will act as an
oversight and lobby group. It would allow NEPA the opportunity to
register and or licence wastewater treatment operators across the
Jamaica. The revival of the Association would also accompany the
Waste Water and Sludge Regulations which are currently in draft. Mr.
Knight reminded that, these will also set stringent standards by
which operators and owners of industrial and sewage treatment
facilities are bound to abide. The Jamaica Wastewater Operators
Association which was formally registered in 2002 provides a
framework for establishing the first wastewater operators’
certification programme in Jamaica. It is funded and implemented by
USAID/Jamaica.
In outlining other strategies in the proposal
NEPA will use to tackle non-compliance, Mr. Knight commended the
GEF-IWCAM project for affording sewage treatment operators needed
training and exposure in the area. According to him: ‘the well timed
Workshop would afford tremendous opportunities for the improvement
of operating and maintenance standards for wastewater and sewage
treatment facilities in Jamaica’. Mr. Knight said he was confident
that, given the range of outcomes at the end of the workshop that
all participants would benefit from enhancing their individual
capacities.
The GEF-IWCAM Project which is managed by NEPA
focuses on sustainable environmental practices in the Drivers River
Watershed and the development of a watershed management model for
Eastern Portland. The successes of the model will be implemented
later throughout the other twenty-five Watershed Management Units in
Jamaica, as well as the rest of the Caribbean.
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