Minister with responsibility for water, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. says the recent Global Water Award copped by the National Water Commission (NWC) augurs well for the country’s water sector.

Jamaica’s national potable water service provider placed fourth (4th) in the Global Water Award in the category of Water Leader of the Year 2019 in London, England. The Awards are organized by Global Water Intelligence (GWI), a world-leading publisher on water sector issues.

Minister Charles Jr. extended congratulations earlier today (Thursday, April 11) to Mr Mark Barnett, President of the NWC and the Commission’s team.

“This global recognition is indicative of the investments that the Government is making toward enhancing the water and wastewater sectors. The National Water Commission has made significant strides to improve quality and accessibility of the commodity”, says Minister Charles.

Meanwhile, the NWC is moving to strategically reduce the high level of Non-Revenue Water (NRW). The Commission notes that the high NRW levels are in direct conflict with its vision and mission.

“The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation will continue to provide strategic direction for the management and growth of our water and wastewater sectors. The implementation of the revised water sector policy will ensure proper management and protection of our water resources”, explains Minister Charles Jr.

The Global Water Awards recognizes excellence across the international water industry within several categories and rewards those initiatives in the water, wastewater, and desalination sectors that are moving the industry forward.

The NWC, because of its innovative approach in non-revenue water (NRW) activities being undertaken with co-management partner, MIYA, received this prestigious placement among other countries such as Argentina, Turkey and Uganda. Importantly, NWC’s achievement under this programme was the drastic results attained in NRW which recorded a movement from 61% to 48% in Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA) for 2018

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), Senator Pearnel Charles Jr. at the Heads of Agencies meeting held on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. Inter-Agency Collaboration Will Improve Efficiency – Minister Charles Minister with responsibility for Water, Housing and Infrastructure, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. says strategic alignment and collaboration across agencies will improve efficiency and provide sustainable solutions.   At a Heads of Agencies meeting, held on Tuesday (April 9) at Jamaica House, Minister Charles Jr. encouraged full inter-agency collaboration.   “Connectivity of agencies is critical. Agencies must understand each other’s strategic direction and collaborate so that the Government’s development strategies can be enhanced. This type of collaboration will increase our ability to achieve sustainable solutions”, stated Minister Charles.   He added that ad hoc implementation of programmes will thwart the Government’s efforts to provide sustainable solutions in critical areas of development.   Minister Charles Jr. also reminded the Chairmen and Heads of Agencies of the importance of good governance.   “All Boards must be guided by the principles of good governance in accordance with the Government’s thrust toward transparency and accountability”, explained Senator Charles.   Updates were received from the Rural Water Supply Limited, National Water Commission, Water Resources Authority, National Road Operating and Construction Company, Urban Development Corporation, Port Authority of Jamaica, Commission of Strata Corporations & Real Estate Board, Housing Agency of Jamaica, Jamaica Mortgage Bank and the Rent Assessment Board.    Senator Charles Jr. assumed duties as Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation on March 25, 2019.

The National Spatial Data Management Branch (NSDMB) of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation recently conducted a  Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Teacher Training workshop at the Church Teachers’ College in Mandeville on under the Land Information Council of Jamaica (LICJ)/NSDMB’s GIS in Schools Education Programme (GISSEP).

Under the theme,  “Teaching With GIS: Thinking Spatially” , the workshop engaged lecturers and student teachers in using ArcGIS Online and  desktop software that provides access to interactive maps and geographic data from across the world.  The lecturers and student teachers were tested at the end of the training sessions.

 

Students and householders found a greater appreciation for how they can conserve on water with the installation of water-­saving devices and practise water-saving measures at home at the Water Tech-Fest exhibition, which was mounted by the Water Project Jamaica.

The Tech-Fest was held at JN Bank’s Half-Way Tree branch in observation of World Water Day on March 22 under the theme ‘Leaving No One behind’.
“It was an informative exhibition. I learned how to conserve water at home and at school,” said Jhardine Daley, a student of Ardenne High School who viewed the exhibition with his teachers and peers.

Jane Dennis, a JN member, found the exhibition very interesting, especially the display mounted by AquaFlow, which demonstrated how customised water bottles and kegs that are converted with spouts could come in handy during water shortage and lock-offs.

“The displays were very interesting. I learned how to conserve water and to detect leaks at home.

“The conversion of kegs with spouts was also useful,” she said. “The Scientific Research Council’s (SRC) display was very applicable as they gave me ideas about how to get my products checked at the SRC. I have a cosmetic business and have developed my own line of products,” Dennis said.

The exhibitors at the Tech-Fest included Instant Save, JN Small Business Loans, Isratech, SRC, and Aqua Flow Products and Services.
Onyka Barrett Scott, general manager of the JN Foundation and administrator of the Water Project Jamaica, said the main objective of the exhibition was to sensitise members of the public and encourage them to play a proactive role in being ‘water-smart’.

‘Simple and practical’
“This project helps us to see simple and practical things we can do on a daily basis to reduce the amount of water we use in our homes, and if we can do that, then we will manage the resource better. Hence, the aim of the exhibition was to give patrons the opportunity to test various devices they can use in their homes or businesses and to help them become familiar with some of the suppliers in the space,” she said.

The Water Project Jamaica, which commenced in March 2017, is a four-year collaboration among the JN Foundation, JN Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Climate Investment Funds, and the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience. The project was designed to address water-management issues primarily related to climate change.

MORE THAN 30 communities in the Upper Rio Minho Watershed Area of Clarendon, including Bullhead, are slated for interventions that will help them better adapt to the changing climate.

The interventions include the installation of check dams, 250 communal rainwater harvesting systems, greenhouse installation, 50 hectares of agro-forestry, and 15 acres of reforestation.

At the recently held Bullhead Ash Wednesday Festival, over 800 community members were targeted to hear about the climate intervention measures being implemented by the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism (AP&FM) of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience.

The AP&FM has been focusing on residents of 33 communities in the area to highlight the importance of the watershed which helps in the generation of rainwater for the parish.

To date, the watershed has been ranked as the most degraded in the island.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20190328/bullhead-clarendon-targeted-resilience-building

 

Senator the Honourable Pearnel P. Charles Jr. is the Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.  Prior to this appointment, he was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade with responsibility for Diaspora Affairs, the National Council for Coastal Zone Management, among other areas. He also served as Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security where he had portfolio duties for the Department of Correctional Services, the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force and special projects within the national security portfolio. He is also the Chairman of the UNESCO Youth Advisory Council.

Minister Charles is an Attorney-at-Law qualified to practice law in Jamaica and the United States of America. Throughout his professional career, he served with distinction as a Judicial Clerk, Senior Clerk of Court, Crown Counsel at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and as the Lead Counsel and Managing Attorney of The Law Offices of Pearnel P. Charles Jr.

The Senator is also a former President of the Law Society and a former Guild President of the University of West Indies where he earned two honours degrees; a Bachelor of Science (double major in Biochemistry and Zoology) and a Bachelor of Laws. Additionally, he holds a Master of Laws degree from The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. where he was awarded the Thomas Buergenthal Scholarship for academic performance. 

Pearnel Charles Jr. was born with a passion for community service and as a youth advocate, he continues to actively participate in community activities geared towards uplifting underserved communities and protecting the most vulnerable.

FARMERS MUST EMPLOY CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY FOR THE NATION – H.M. VAZ

Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz has noted that Climate Smart Agriculture is one of the tools that the island’s farmers must employ to ensure the nation’s food security for this and future generations.

Minister Vaz, who has responsibility for Climate Change and the Environment, was addressing farmers and other stakeholders on March 20, 2019,  at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority’s (RADA’s) Annual Open Day and Exhibition, at the Folly Oval in Port Antonio, Portland.

He commended RADA for its role in assisting the farmers in Portland and throughout the island to become climate smart, adding that the livelihoods of our small farmers are even more at risk when adverse weather events such as drought, excessive rainfall, flooding and wind damage from hurricanes are included. 

“We therefore need to continue to equip our farmers and of course, our fisher folk,  with the necessary knowledge and tools, to adapt to climate change while developing resilient and sustainable forms of agriculture”, the Minister stated.

Minister Vaz noted that in 2018, some 5,000 small farmers in the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas and St. Mary benefitted from specialized two-year training  to increase their capacity to implement climate smart agricultural practices.

The project is a partnership between the  Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Co-operation (CTA), based in the Netherlands, the Climate Change Division in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, and  RADA.

According to Minister Vaz, these kinds of partnerships are critical to the efforts to achieve sustainable development through the practice of Climate Smart Agriculture.

“It is incumbent on you to ensure that the project is successful. Coming up in May we will have the project team travelling with the Climate Change Division to South Africa to present Jamaica’s result thus far. We are ensuring that two farmers from the project are on this mission to speak for themselves”, the Minister noted.

Minister Vaz also urged consumers to purchase local produce,  noting that it makes no sense for the nation to seek to increase its food security by incorporating climate smart initiatives and training farmers, when in the end the food rots in the field while we purchase imported produce. 

“As my Ministry and RADA continue to promote climate smart agriculture and increase productivity, it is with the overarching Vision 2030 goal, in mind.  Jamaica cannot be ‘the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business’, if we have to rely on imported food; if a critical sector of our society, our farmers and fishers cannot make a decent living; or if we do not take steps to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change”, the Minister said.  

Minister Vaz assured the farmers that the Government is committed to the New Jamaica, where the fruits of their efforts are realized and everyone has the potential to earn a decent living.

NOTING what it describes as an “alarming indifference” among Jamaicans to the effects of climate change, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is partnering with PANOS Caribbean’s Voices for Climate Change Education Initiative to raise awareness of adaptive strategies in four communities.

The eight-month project, which was launched at the end of January, is being implemented in Rocky Point and Lionel Town in Clarendon, Ridge Red Bank in St Elizabeth, and White House in St Ann. It uses popular local artistes and performers to spread messages about climate change in song and performing arts to stir interest and drive behaviour change.

“This project is focused on increasing the knowledge of climate-smart practices within these communities,” said Indi Mclymont-Lafayette, communications specialist for the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism at PIOJ.

“These communities have already started implementing adaptive strategies that address climate vulnerability, and we want to foster sharing and transfer of knowledge among them.”

The PIOJ added: “Climate change is not a distant threat to Jamaicans. It has a daily presence and often affects the livelihoods of those working in tourism, agriculture and fishing. Still, there is an alarming indifference to its effects.”

Panos mobilises artists from the four selected communities to join national singers and performers in a multi-part workshop designed to help them understand climate change and effectively craft appropriate messages. The artists then visit the communities to see the climate change impacts first-hand and the communities’ responses, after which they perform in school and community concerts, six of which are scheduled through August 2019.

The Voices for Climate Change Education campaign is part of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience–Climate Data Project, a broader public education programme from the PIOJ.

“This initiative will harness and capture the power of popular music and culture to transmit climate change messages in ways that can help to build community resilience,” said Nicole Brown, director of PANOS Caribbean.

The campaign will also encourage students from targeted communities to craft creative climate change adaptation messages in 60-second videos for prizes for the best productions. In addition, there is a short story competition for students and a reading initiative that will introduce young readers to literature on climate change.

“This project will improve the quality and use of climate related data for effective planning and action at all levels,” said Lehome Johnson, project manager of the Climate Data Project.

“This will allow Jamaicans to have access to quality climate and weather information that will help us to make climate smart decisions,” he added.

 

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/pioj-panos_159229?profile=1373

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has committed to gender equality as a priority of the Government.   The Prime Minister underscored that gender equality is a part of the Administration’s prosperity plan.   “For this Government, achieving gender equality is now accepted, understood and pursued as a condition for inclusive economic growth, social equity, human capital and socio-emotional development. It is indeed an integral part of our prosperity plan,” said Prime Minister Holness.   Addressing the Women in Law Conference at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters today (March 8), the Prime Minister pointed out that much of the policy initiatives geared toward achieving gender equality was announced during the Finance Minister’s Budget presentation.   “Much of the policy initiative announced, many of them would have significant impact for women particularly women in business, small, medium-sized and micro enterprises and in Jamaica’s case, we pursue gender equality (and) we mainstream many of our policies for gender equality because for us it is important in tackling poverty,” stated Prime Minister Holness.   The Prime Minister also stated that Government policy regarding gender equality must be geared at treating with issues of violence from a gender perspective.   “For the Government it is not just a fashionable catch-phrase, these are things that we see as important in ensuring the equitable and inclusive development of our society and that’s why we have been making certain investments, you would have heard yesterday (during the Budget debate) of resources allocated for two additional centres to assist women who find themselves in situations of conflicts or situation in which they are being abused with allocated resources to build one (centre) last year and now we have allocated resources to build an additional two,” said Prime Minister Holness.   In the meantime, the Prime Minister during his presentation in recognition of International Women’s Day saluted all women for their efforts in building Jamaica and those who have left their mark on Jamaica’s history.   “The path for women in law has not been an easy one. Acknowledgement must be given to important strides to further guide to further gender parity which took place even prior to our achievement of self-government, the Sex Disqualification Act passed in 1944, removed the barriers that prevented women from entering the public service, this paved the way for Miss Daisy Chambers to become the first female solicitor in Jamaica and for Ena Collymore Woodstock who will be a 102 years old this year and she became the first female Clerk of the Courts and Magistrate. Since our independence, these strides have continued, the Employment, Equal Pay for Men and Women Act of 1975 was passed to remove pay inequality on the basis of sex, this provided more income for women often the head of single-parent household to further educate themselves and to take care of their families,” said Prime Minister Holness.   In that regard, the Prime Minister said the legal profession demonstrates the strides women have made and is an example of the achievements being celebrated on International Women’s Day in Jamaica.                                                               –30–