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Western Parks and Markets in Jamaica to undertake plastic bottle recycling project

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MONTEGO BAY, Jan 11 (JIS) – Western Parks and Market (WPM) Waste Management Limited will be undertaking a plastic bottle recycling project in two communities in St. James.

The initiative, to be launched on Valentine’s Day, February 14, is intended to reduce the volume of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles deposited at disposal sites in the parish.

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It also forms part of efforts to heighten public awareness about the importance of preserving the environment.

Regional Operations Manager at WPM, Garnet Edmondson, told JIS News that the project will primarily entail scheduled collection and sorting of plastic bottles in the communities, which are to be identified.

“With that removal process, they [residents] will store and keep [the bottles] and we [WPM] will collect [those] every two weeks; that will be a part of the build up to our limited separation programme,” he explained.

The Operations Manager said the agency is also in the process of procuring a truck, “which will be solely dedicated to the collection of those plastic bottles”.

“So our celebration of Valentine’s Day is loving the environment [by] collecting these bottles, because they can damage the environment,” he added.

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Mr. Edmondson said WPM will also be embarking on a public education campaign in schools, aimed at fostering a more positive approach to the recycling initiative.  

“We will be going into schools to have participation by students. So we will teach them the importance of how they [should] handle their waste,” he informed.

Mr. Edmondson further advised of plans to erect waste separation bins across St. James to encourage recycling.

“Planning [for this] has already started. Further down in the year, we will be speaking with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) [regarding] sponsorship of some waste bins,” he said.

Mr. Edmondson indicated that the design of the bins will be different from the regular containers, “because we want them [to have] three compartments where you have normal waste, organics and plastics”.

Meanwhile, the Operations Manager said WPM will be encouraging market vendors and other stakeholders across western Jamaica to resort to composting, which is a form of waste disposal where organic waste decomposes naturally under oxygen-rich conditions.

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Mr. Edmondson said the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has been engaged to heighten farmers’ awareness about the benefits to be derived from composting, adding that “we will [also] be engaging our vendors and all other stakeholders [regarding] collecting organic material”.

“Our vegetable markets [in particular] will come into play, because it is not very viable to be putting organic material into the landfill; what it does, is enhance the greenhouse gases,” he informed.

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Caribbean News

Guyana to build regional food hub

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Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

 

#Guyana, September 29, 2023 – Guyana is making moves to become the primary food production center for the Caribbean, going ahead with plans to develop a USD$14 million regional food hub.

In fact, as reported by the Observer, the facility has already been identified on the country’s Soesdyke /Linden Highway.

Guyana seems to really want this to become a reality and Zulfikar Mustapha, Agriculture Minister, expressed this, highlighting what Guyana has over its Caribbean sister Islands.

“We want Guyana to be the food hub, the primary production hub of the Caribbean so that we could supply the Caribbean.  What we have, our colleagues in the Caribbean don’t have.  We have arable flat land and abundant fresh water,” he said, adding that with the multi-million dollar US investment, the country can, “modernise the infrastructure, and start ramping up the productions.”

Also, the Agriculture Minister pointed out that the project is geared to make for a more competitive local Agriculture industry as well as developing high-yielding varieties, pest-resistant and climate-resilient varieties.

Additionally, in the facility’s development, Guyana, Mustapha said, will work with Belize.

In fact, with more on Belize’s involvement, Dr. Ashni Singh,  Finance Minister, informed that the Government is in talks with the Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley about sourcing inputs from northern Brazil and transporting them through Guyana to Barbados and vice versa.

Singh also reportedly revealed that the project will help develop the growing logistics industry in Guyana.

Considering regional food import cost, with this development, Guyana is the leading Caribbean Community country pushing ahead with plans to reduce the multi-billion dollar regional food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, the Observer says.

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Caribbean News

Cayman makes striking policy change to include more blood donors

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Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

 

#CaymanIslands, September 29, 2023 – The Cayman Islands overturned a policy that banned blood donation from people who visited the island from or resided in countries where “mad cow disease” existed. This was revealed by Sabrina Turner, Health Minister in Parliament, as reported by CNW Network.

People who resided in Britain from 1980 to 2001 and those who had blood transfusions in the UK after 1980, can now donate blood.

Due to recent risk evaluation, and the current protocol for blood donors, many nations, CNW reports, have re-evaluated and adjusted similar guidelines regarding blood donation, as Cayman Islands has now done.

The now initial restrictions on blood donations for the country was called for and was important as at the time of implementation, “mad cow disease” or as it’s scientifically called, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), was at-large affecting not just cows, but also people, who are able to contract “a version of BSE called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD),” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says.

The likely reason for the Cayman Islands’ targeted population of those affiliated with living in the UK or getting blood transfusion in the UK, was because most of the people with vCJD lived in the UK, as highlighted by the FDA.

Also, as BBC says in a 2018 report, 1 in 2000 people in the UK is thought to be a carrier of the disease, even though some who are carriers don’t go on to develop symptoms.

However, the change in Cayman Islands’ policy does not mean the disease is no longer out there.

In fact the FDA said, “as of 2019, 232 people worldwide are known to have become sick with vCJD, and unfortunately, they all have died.  It is thought that they got the disease from eating food made from cows sick with BSE. Most of the people who have become sick with vCJD lived in the United Kingdom at some point in their lives. Only four lived in the U.S., and most likely, these four people became infected when they were living or traveling overseas.”

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Bwa Kalé movement striking back against gangs, nearly 3,000 murdered

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Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

 

#Haiti, September 29, 2023 – In eight months, nearly 3,000 Haitian people have been slaughtered in their home country due to the upsurge and uprising of gangs in the republic which is struggling to hold its democracy in check.

‘Bwa Kalé’, it’s a vigilante movement that has sprung up in Haiti, and the UN says it is driving up murders.

Born out of fear and distrust in the state according to the UN, the movement is a violent strike back against the gangs that are terrorizing residents.

A recent report following an expert visit detailed it.

“Certain groups have formed allegedly to protect their neighbourhoods from gangs.  In some instances, these groups have summarily executed people suspected of being gang members.  The Bwa Kalé movement demonstrates the population’s lack of trust in the State, especially in the police and the courts.  The expert has learned that some members of the police and the judiciary have been complicit with gangs.”

Despite the obvious fear among residents, the UN is warning them not to take justice into their own hands.  However, that is easier said than done as Haitians have demonstrated their feelings of abandonment by fleeing the island in mass numbers on illegal voyages and standing up to the gangs themselves.

In the same report, one said: “The State is absent, there are no police or other officials operating there.”

According to AP, a new report to the U.N. Security Council indicated that 2,728 intentional killings were recorded between October 2022 and June 2023, including 247 women, 58 boys, and 20 girls.  Bwa Kalé is blamed partially for the increase, as life in the country is described as unbearable.

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