KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC—The Andrew Holness-led administration seeks to meet its objectives under the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) Act.
“We have been working with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to ensure that under the NRCA Act, we do get to our 30 percent target by 2025, and that is to protect our endemics and to protect a lot of our flora and fauna,” said Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda.
Addressing the recent Conservation Action Planning Workshop for Jamaica’s endemic plants, hosted by NEPA at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Samuda said the Act forms a crucial part of the country’s environmental policy.
The NRCA Act is Jamaica’s umbrella environmental law.
The Act provides for the management, conservation, and protection of Jamaica’s natural resources.
The Act, which the NRCA established, has several powers, including issuing permits to persons responsible for undertaking any construction, enterprise, or development of a prescribed category in a prescribed area; issuing licenses for the discharge of trade or sewerage effluent; requesting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from an applicant for a permit or the person responsible for undertaking any construction, enterprise or development; and revocation or suspension of permits.
The Act also gives the power to enforce the Beach Control Act, which establishes Crown (Government) ownership and management responsibility for the foreshore, floor of the sea, and overlying water (it regulates activities within 25 meters of the shoreline, including control over the construction of sheds and huts on beaches).
This prohibits commercial use of these areas without a license from the NRCA; directs NRCA control over activities, including fishing, waste disposal, dredging, and coral removal; requires NRCA permit for any structure on or attachment to the foreshore, including seawalls piers, jetties, mooring buoys, and artificial reefs; requires NRCA approval of beach development plans (developments up to one mile inland), and inspection of beaches to ensure adherence to safety and cleanliness standards.
The NRCA also gives powers to the Watershed Protection Act and the Wildlife Protection Act.
Samuda pledged the Government’s continued support of stakeholders within the sector in crafting policies that promote environmental conservation, restoration, and protection.
“Policy has to be guided and led by academia… those who study the field and do the work have to provide that guidance, and politicians need to be mature enough to take that guidance and follow the numbers to follow the science to ensure it guides our [actions].”
“I want to assure you of the Government’s support for your work in your varying organizations,” he said.
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