Jamaica’s Wildlife Protection Act and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) Act will be revised to impose harsher fines and penalties for breaches.
The announcement was made by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Matthew Samuda during the State of the Nation Debate in the Upper House on December 2.
Samuda said those who have broken the laws and polluted with little to no repercussions will now face greater consequences, with changes taking effect before the completion of the financial year.
Samuda also shared that the Wildlife Protection Act amendments will allow Jamaica to meet its international obligations.
He noted that Jamaica signed the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) protocol in 1990. The SPAW Protocol takes an ecosystem approach and provides a unique legal framework for the region’s biodiversity conservation.
“Now Jamaica has been unable to accede to the protocol and be fully compliant with its intent for 32 years because of the failure to amend the Wildlife Protection Act. This Administration will address this legacy issue before the end of this fiscal year,” Samuda said.
He further said the government will move to create a designation under the NRCA Act for ecologically sensitive areas, as it will provide a greater level of protection for areas with environmental sensitivities.
He shared that the Government has already selected 16 areas, nine of which will be in the coastal zone. Great Bay in Southwest St. Elizabeth will be the first designated area.
“This will mean that activities such as the illegal sand mining we saw earlier in the year will not be permitted and will not be considered by any government in the future. The work to create this designation is virtually complete, I await the prime minister’s signature for us to bring it to you,” he said.
Senator Samuda said Jamaica must become a center of excellence in environmental management and climate change challenges.
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