Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
A section of the Palisadoes Road leading to the Norman Manley International Airport is strewn with debris washed from the sea by storm surges as Hurricane Emily approached Jamaica's south coast last year. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE GOVERNMENT is hoping to secure the future of the hurricane-battered Palisadoes Road under a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cuba.
Cuba is offering free technical assistance to examine and develop strategies for coastal protection. If approved by Cabinet, the study - to be financed by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) - could begin within a month and take a further two months to complete, according to Filbert Brown, senior director of Emergency Management and Land Services in the Ministry of Local Government and Environment.
CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
Mr. Brown was speaking Tuesday during the inaugural Caribbean Climate Change Conference (C3) at the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club in Montego Bay, St. James.
The project will improve the coastal defences, replenish beaches and improve the Palisadoes strip as a recreational attraction, said Leonie Barnaby, senior director of the Environmental Management Division in the Ministry of Local Government and Environment.
"We have to take stock of the current defences as many of the groynes (coastal defences) have been damaged and we are looking for something that will give better protection," Ms. Barnaby said. "The rationale is that we want to look at it as a protected area since any morning you drive on the road you can see people jogging or fishing."
The low-lying Palisadoes Road, which leads from Kingston to the Norman Manley Inter-national Airport, has been damaged by recent hurricanes, which have breached defences and flooded the road.
Mr. Brown said the study will take into account that, as a heritage site, the area has protected status.
