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JAMAICA: Government on U.S $5.3-Million Coastal Resilience Project

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#Kingston, February 26, 2019 – Jamaica – The Government is embarking on a US$5.3-million project to build the country’s resilience to climate change.

Dubbed the North Eastern Coastal Resilience Building project, it is one of three components under the Enhancing the Resilience of the Agricultural Sector and Coastal Areas to Protect Livelihoods and Improve Food Security Programme.  It is being implemented by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), under the Government of Jamaica/Adaptation Fund Programme (GOJ/AFP).

The project will target the communities of Annotto Bay, St. Mary; and Buff Bay and Orange Bay in Portland. The major problems to be addressed are retreat of the coastline towards major critical, physical assets within these towns; coastal and riverine flooding; and deforestation.

The project will address the issues identified, by implementing shoreline protection and ecosystems restoration (reforestation), drainage system outfall upgrade and capacity building.

Activities in Annotto Bay include the installation of 600 metres of rock revetment;  installation of 300 metres of Wave Attenuation Devices (WAD) or artificial reef; reclamation of 18,000 metres2 of land and construction of a new jetty, agro forestry (30,000 trees); and realignment of the outfall of the Motherford Drain.

For Buff Bay, focus will be placed on the installation of 50 metres of rock revetment, while, in Orange Bay, 200 metres of revetment is to be installed.  

Programme Manager for the GOJ/AFP, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Shelia McDonald-Miller tells JIS News, that the procurement process for the project has begun. She notes that the initiative is slated to get under way in April, with an estimated time for completion of 12 to 15 months.

Mrs. McDonald-Miller says the coastal reclamation aspect of the project is important for preserving critical infrastructure of the towns.

“In most areas, seaside properties that were once significantly removed from the shoreline, are now within 30 metres of the high water mark along the coastline. It is important for coastal protection to be installed… wherever similar situations exist along the coastline,” she informs.

The Programme Manager adds that climatic impacts are exacerbated by a number of other environmental problems, including deforestation and erosion of hillsides, deterioration of water quality, reduction of coral reef coverage and coastal erosion.

“Most of them are low-lying towns and are susceptible to storm surges, whether hurricanes or some kind of extreme weather. We are doing something called WADs, which are really artificial structures. We are going to install them in the north eastern parts of Annotto Bay to provide further protection of the shoreline,” she says.

Additionally, the project will undertake capacity-building exercises with stakeholders.

“We will try to do some capacity building, as well, and training, because we want to look at how we can help the fishermen. We have to retrain them. Reason being, some of the fish stock has been depleted due to climate action,” Mrs. McDonald Miller notes.

The PIOJ Programme Manager says that while these measures will take some time to yield results, they will assist in arresting environmental degradation in these areas.

“If you look at what we are putting in, these are not quick fixes. These are well thought-out and scientifically recommended solutions to the problem of coastal erosion, watersheds being rehabilitated, shorelines being reclaimed, people being trained and capacities of local authorities being built,” she points out.

Under the programme, focus will also be placed on natural resource management, which will be executed in partnership with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

“We want to see how we can help the community to take care of the natural resources that we have, and how to better manage the infrastructure once we put in the shoreline protection. We believe this project and the entire programme will have far-reaching sustainability elements and benefits to the target communities,” she adds.

The overall objective of the programme is to protect livelihoods and food security by improving land and water management for the agricultural sector, strengthening coastal protection, and building institutional and local capacity for Climate Change Adaptation/Disaster Risk Reduction.

The other two components of the programme include enhancing the climate resilience of the agriculture sector by improving water and land management practices; and improving institutional and local level capacity for coastal and agricultural adaptation and awareness for behaviour modification through training and design of replicable technical standards.

Contact: Rochelle Williams

Release: JIS

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CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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