World Town Planning Day Focuses on Water

November 7, 2013

Issues related to water conservation, availability and use will be brought into sharp focus on Friday, November 8 when Jamaica joins the rest of the world in commemorating World Town Planning Day (WTPD).

Leonard Francis, Director of the Spatial Planning Division at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) says that this year’s theme, ‘Water: too much, too little, unusable or in the wrong place’ is especially timely given the growing international concern related to availability of the precious resource.

“There is currently global conflict as it relates to water because as populations get larger there is less (water) to go around. In recent years, we have seen where some of the water sources in particular countries have been contaminated and as such, rendered unusable,” said Mr. Francis, adding that the challenge now before Jamaica is to put measures in place to protect our water resources and ensure that the nation always has adequate supplies of potable water.

The main event for this year’s activities is a public lecture by Chairman of the National Housing Trust and former Government Town Planner, the Hon. Easton Douglas.

The lecture will be preceded by greetings from Minister of Water Land Environment and Climate Change (with portfolio responsibility for town planning) Hon. Robert Pickersgill.

The day’s activities will also include an exhibition by NEPA and its partners. The lecture, which will be hosted at the NHT’s Overtime Club, begins at 10 a.m.