John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
ENVIRONMENT MINISTER Dean Peart says the Government has applied for United Nations (UN) assistance to finance a study for the design and redevelopment of the Palisadoes road in Kingston, as well as the rehabilitation of the seven-mile long Negril beach in Westmoreland.
The funding will come from the Adaptation Fund established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Minister Peart was reporting on the outcome of talks at the recently-concluded Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Canada, at a press conference yesterday at his office on Half-Way Tree Road.
"The Cubans came about three weeks ago and they are presently doing the studies and then we are also hoping to look at funding for the construction of that road (Palisadoes)," Minister Peart reported yesterday.
He said the Jamaican delegation met with their counterparts from the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as representatives from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) during the conference in Canada regarding funding for the projects and the establishment of a climate change unit in the ministry.
PREPARE FOR MORE SEVERE WEATHER
"We in Jamaica are particularly concerned about beach erosion due to climate change, destruction of road infrastructure, such as the Palisadoes road, due to increased storm surges," Minister Peart emphasised. He added that "we must also change our building codes, so that our buildings and general infrastructure can withstand more severe weather events." The new building code is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006.
Donovan Stanberry, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Land and Environment, explained that it was not yet known how much money Jamaica would get from the Adaptation Fund as the design would first have to be completed.
The redesign and construction of the Palisadoes road is expected to cost close to $600 million, Mr. Peart had disclosed in a previous interview.
Mr. Stanberry said his ministry was currently developing proposals for other adaptation projects for funding. "In the sugar industry I think there are tremendous possibilities in the whole business of converting sugar to ethanol and many opportunities for renewable energy ... ," he said.
