By Erica James-King, Senior Staff Reporter
The North Gully in the 'Second City', which runs behind Paradise Row/King Street continues to be an eyesore in the town, despite last week's demonstration by some residents about its garbage-strewn condition. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THREE MONTHS after the US$8 million Ridge-to-Reef project was launched in western Jamaica, it has run aground. Problems have surfaced surrounding funding for an integral component of the programme for the Great River Watershed area.
This part of the project should see to the establishment of a vegetable nursery at Montpelier in St. James at a cost of US$150,000 (about $7-million).
Mark Nolan, of the Ridge-to-Reef project, told The Gleaner that the planting of seedlings in the two-acre nursery should have started in late January, but to date, the local and international funding which was sought has not materialised.
The site has already been cleared, but financial constraints are hampering the start-up of operations at the nursery. "We are trying to access funding from Environmental Foundation of Jamaica and other financial sources, but we have not been having much luck," laments Mr. Nolan.
The project co-ordinators say they are intensifying efforts to acquire financing.
Some $2.8 million have been earmarked for the Ridge-to-Reef project, in the national budget for the new fiscal year. The Estimates of Expenditure states that the money allocated will be used to assist in water quality monitoring, amend the Watershed Protection Act, and help the Ridge-to-Reef management committee and its task force and address compliance enforcement issues.
The planned operation of the nursery is intended to assist farmers in four western parishes to gain easy access to disease-free vegetable seedlings, and so boost their vegetable trade to the tourist market, where traditional and exotic vegetables are in heavy demand.
There are on-going complaints from farmers that they are having difficulty in obtaining a wide variety of vegetable seeds and seedlings, in the absence of a major nursery.
The Great River arm of the Ridge-to-Reef project, which benefits neighbouring parishes St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth is aimed at facilitating the development of sustainable watershed and natural resource management. It is jointly funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Jamaican Government.
Meanwhile, a component of the Ridge-to-Reef Programme, the Water and Sanitation Pilot project, was launched in Retrieve on the Westmoreland/St. James border in January. Two 'wetland flush toilet systems' were set up, allowing for the recycling of sludge and water. Residents of Retrieve say they believe the programme is helping to stem sewage pollution of rivers in the area. Even as the programme receives high praise from residents, its expansion has met some hurdles.
The implementing agency, the Sanitation Support Unit (a subsidiary of the Construction Resource and Development Centre), says it is seeking $10 million to expand the sanitation exercise in other sections of Retrieve and other communities in the western end of the island. Head of the Sanitation Support Unit, Neville Williams, explains that a project proposal for the expansion of the programme is in place, and efforts are being made to identify money to set it in motion.
Outlining that the project has to plough $60,000 in setting up each "wetland flush toilet system", the Sanitation Unit Boss told The Gleaner that 4 schools in the Great River watershed area are to benefit shortly from demonstration units.
The Sanitation Support Unit is aiming to have the demonstration units up and running within 3 months. Currently some 23 communities in the Great River watershed area are carrying out environmental audits of their areas, and plan community programmes, which are economically and environmentally feasible. In a bid to encourage reafforestation in the watershed area, during January to March, the Ridge-to-Reef initiative assisted farmers in the Catadupa area of St. James to establish small plantations of lignum vitae and June plum. The Catadupa community, during its environmental and economic audits, identified the need for this orchard project.
Lack of funding hampers Ridge-to-Reef development
