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.
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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.