UDC And NEPA Partner To Clean-Up Hellshire Bay, St Catherine

The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) will partner to clean up Hellshire Bay Beach in Portmore St. Catherine on Saturday, September 15, 2018, in commemoration of the 33rd staging of International Coastal Clean-up Day (ICCD).

The island’s largest one-day volunteer event will be hosted under the theme "Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica." It is anticipated to rival the 2017 UDC/NEPA clean-up, which saw a record number of volunteers totalling 1089 persons - who collected 229 bags of trash weighing 1145.1 kilograms.

According to Sara Simpson Tulloch, Director Natural Resource Management and Environment Planning, UDC, "ICCD 2018 is already on the path of creating history where its adoption in Jamaica is concerned. She notes "last year Jamaica was ranked 12th in the world in the category of largest ICCD event; with the current registration trend, she continued, Jamaica will be sure to place higher in the rankings.

Chalene Roye-Myrie, Beaches Coordinator, NEPA indicated that the Agency is excited about ICCD 2018 and sees it as an opportunity to sensitise an already captive audience about making a difference in the marine environment. She said, "We will be hosting an Adopt A Beach registration tent for participants to sign up to adopt a beach. We want to get more groups involved in cleanups across the coastline throughout the year, so that no trash is left behind."

International Coastal Cleanup Day is an initiative of the Ocean Conservancy and is observed globally on the third Saturday in September each year. For the past five years, the UDC has collaborated with NEPA in staging a clean-up at Hellshire Bay Beach which falls in Hellshire, a UDC designated area since 1968.