Current Press Releases

GEF-IWCAM Project Donates $J 3.6 M to the Build Jamaica Foundation…
…Proper Watershed Management to Stimulate Academic Performance in Eastern Portland.

As part of the first of its Community Improvement Grants Scheme, the Global Environment Facility – Integrating Watershed and Coastal Areas Management (GEF-IWCAM) Project donated $J 3.6 M to the Build Jamaica Foundation. The funds will be used to upgrade sanitation facilities at five schools in the Drivers River Watershed Management Unit, in the process, eliminating the use of pit toilets. Reach Primary and Infant, Rural Hill Primary, Fair Prospect Primary, Fair Prospect Basic and Windsor Forest Basic Schools will all benefit from the project.  

The Grants Programme will disburse the equivalent of US $100,000 to thirteen community projects in support of the integrated approach to the sustainable management of watersheds and coastal areas within the Drivers River Watershed. All projects are expected to be completed by May 2009. read more. 

World Town Planning Day Focus on Jamaica's Capital Towns
 

“Revitalizing our Capital Towns” is the theme chosen by Jamaica for this year’s celebration of World Town Planning Day (WTPD).  The day is celebrated worldwide on November 8th in over 30 countries, and focuses primarily on the integral relationship of planning in the sustainable development of cities.

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) will observe the day with a panel discussion, and exhibition at Devon House on Friday, November 7, 2008. The opening ceremony and panel discussion will take place between 10:00 a.m. and 12 noon, and the exhibition remains open until 4:00 p.m. The panel discussion will focus on the challenges and successes of the redevelopment programmes and strategies implemented for the sustainable development of the island’s towns.  Exhibitors include the Urban Development Corporation, Kingston Restoration Company, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, Department of Local Government and the Planning Institute of Jamaica. read more. 

Predatory Lionfish spotted in Jamaican Waters

The National Environment and Planning Agency, NEPA, is advising the public that it has received several reports about sightings of the predatory Lionfish in Jamaican waters. To date there have been eight confirmed sightings in St. Thomas, four confirmed in St. Ann, two unconfirmed in Portland and one unconfirmed sighting in both St. James and Westmoreland. NEPA’s Ecosystems Management Branch has so far retrieved six specimens of the Lionfish. These specimens are now part of individual collections at the Institute of Jamaica, University of the West Indies and NEPA.
 read more.