Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Senator Samuda reaffirms government commitment to proper waste management practices
#Kingston, March 29, 2019 – Jamaica – Government Senator, Matthew Samuda, is reaffirming the Government’s commitment to pursuing initiatives that will encourage proper waste management practices.
Among these, he said, is the Plastic Bottle Refund Deposit Scheme, which is slated to come on stream early in the 2019/20 fiscal year. It is intended to reduce littering and encourage recycling.
“It is about 15 per cent of our waste that is plastic and bottle, so one of the things that will come on stream this year is that we will monetise the value of plastic… and you will be able to get back that value when you bring a bottle in,” Mr. Samuda informed.
“We expect in five years to target 85-90 per cent of the plastic bottles that are being produced and consumed each year. We’ve seen it work in Rwanda and Norway very well, so we are putting in place what’s necessary,” he added.
The deposit refund scheme will allow for the application of a deposit on plastic bottles placed on the market and a cash rebate to the consumer on the return of these to designated redemption centres islandwide.
This scheme will be implemented by a reconstituted Recycling Partners Jamaica Limited. Participating private-sector stakeholders have instituted a self-imposed cess of $1 per bottle, to start, which will see an initial private-sector investment of $850 million in the first year.
Senator Samuda was speaking during a panel discussion at this year’s staging of the Youth Climate Action Expo, hosted by the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC) at Campion College on March 16.
The expo was held under the theme ‘Staying above the Tide: Jamaica After the Plastic Ban’. The panel discussion focused on topics such as solid waste management, climate change and renewable energy.
Senator Samuda also informed that in the next fiscal year, some 100 new garbage trucks will be added to the National Solid Waste Management Authority’s (NSWMA) fleet. He also noted that several initiatives are being undertaken, to increase the use of renewable energy.
“There are a couple of things that are already taking place. There is a project for 50 schools to receive solar energy to reduce both their carbon footprint and energy costs. That is being coordinated by the National Education Trust and the Development Bank of Jamaica,” Senator Samuda said.
“There is the listing of Wigton [Wind Farm] on the Stock Exchange to raise additional capital that will allow for greater expansion on that facility and our wind energy production will go up significantly. Another project, which I think is nearing completion, is the Eight Rivers [Energy Company] solar plant in Westmoreland,” he added.
For her part, JCCYC Director and Founder, Eleanor Terrelonge, stressed the need for Jamaicans to develop a culture of separating their garbage.
“We can separate our garbage, recycle what we can recycle and then an option for organic waste is composting. A lot of persons are moving [in this direction], and composting has its own benefits because it can be reused as fertiliser,” she stated.
The parent body of the JCCYC, the Jamaica Climate Change Advisory Board (JCCAB), in its community engagement activities, works with the NSWMA and other organisations to further heighten waste management sensitisation and awareness.
“The JCCYC worked with the Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change (Ja REEACH) Project and community groups in Portland for a few weeks on a solid waste sensitisation campaign,” Communication Coordinator at the JCCAB, Dainalyn Swaby said.
She added that “we had implemented some garbage enclosures and skips in the community. The community groups invited the NSWMA and they had a session on the types of waste and how to sort it”.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer, Environmental Solutions Limited, Eleanor Jones, pointed to the need to mitigate sea-level rise.
“We have our airports and ports, our power plants and so on in coastal areas. We are going to have to look at moving back from the shore zone, and for some of the infrastructure, retrofitting to elevate where we can,” she stated.
“Also, with sea-level rise, we have to think about our coastal aquifers, because as the levels rise, that saline water moves in, and we already have contamination of our coastal aquifers. So it’s a real issue for us,” she added.
Jamaica’s middle-income economy classification from the United Nations excludes the country from funding allocated by G7 and G20 countries, to undertake certain infrastructural projects.
“The truth is, we know the projects that need to be done, and we are doing the ones that we can afford to do as we can afford to do them. But we won’t be able to make those necessary moves until that financing arrangement changes,” Senator Samuda explained.
By: Charnele Henry
Release: JIS
Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
May 2, 2024 – The Latin America and Caribbean region is projected to see slower economic growth for 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a report published on April 19.
Growth, the organization says, is expected to slow to 2 percent down from 2.3 percent compared to 2023 and this is due to weaker external environments, specifically the trade side, as well as the effects of strict policies put in place to tame inflation, which are still in the process of solidifying. 
This may come across as bad news but Rodrigo Valdes, Director Western Hemisphere Department IMF Moderator, in a video press briefing assured that it isn’t.
“We see risk around this baseline projection as broadly balanced. This is not, as we saw this in the past, this is good news, and this reflects basically more balanced global risks,” he maintained.
Considering all of this, Valdes expressed that the region has shown great resilience over the past few years since the pandemic rebound, which he says has been “stronger than expected.”
Valdes spoke to labor markets being in good standing as well as unemployment which remains at historical Lows.
In continuation, he says inflation is receding throughout the region and is expected to contour to fall for the rest of the year. Rodrigo Valdes further expressed this is thanks to timely action by regional central banks and of the global disinflation trends.
“Risks to inflation have also become more balanced than in the past although it’s still [tilde] to be more persistent or higher than these expectations that it’s going down,” he added.
KINGSTON, April 24 (JIS):
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has declared Jamaica a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) island with a vision of fostering innovation, driving economic growth, and empowering citizens to thrive in the global knowledge economy.
“Through our collaborative all-hands-on-deck approach, Government, private sector, academia and civil society, we will work towards this goal. Jamaica is now officially declared a STEM island,” he said.
Prime Minister Holness was addressing the Future Ready International Conference held at the University of Technology (UTech) in Kingston on April 24.
As a STEM island, he said that the Government will seek to implement comprehensive education reforms from the primary to the tertiary levels, with the objective of developing a skilled workforce, capable of competing in global markets.
He said that ecosystems will be developed to encourage startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators in the STEM disciplines to drive industry and economic growth, as well as to address social issues.
“We will encourage the growth of STEM industries such as biotechnology, information technology and advanced manufacturing. We will also leverage STEM to grow and monetise the musical, artistic, cultural and other natural talents of our people. We will leverage STEM solutions to address environmental challenges including climate change, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture,” the Prime Minister said.
“We will position Jamaica as a hub for STEM research, innovation, collaboration and other developments in the Caribbean and beyond,” he added.
The Prime Minister said that by embracing STEM as a national priority, Jamaica will unlock its full potential driving prosperity, peace and productivity in a sustainable, equitable way for all our Jamaican citizens and, indeed, the world,” Holness said.
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