NEWS RELEASE                                               june 11, 2003

For immediate release

 NEPA Stages Workshop on Land-Based Activities and Sources of Marine Pollution…

.Develops National Programme of Action (NPA)

On Wednesday, June 18, 2003, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), will stage a Government of Jamaica Round Table at the Knutsford Court Hotel, as part of the effort to develop a National Plan of Action (NPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Sources and Activities.

The Round Table, which is one in a series of other workshops targeting members of the waste management, agricultural, manufacturing, shipping and tourism sectors will run from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The Government and private sectors and the utility companies were also targeted. Earlier this month similar workshops were held at the Jamaica Conference Centre.

An initial National Workshop was held on April 30 at the Jamaica Conference Center which laid the foundation for other workshops. It identified sewage treatment and disposal, solid waste management and agriculture (erosion) as the priority areas for the NPA, which formed the basis for other workshops. Future workshops are dependent on the outcomes of the Sector-specific workshops

The Sectoral Workshops, as they are called, were also aimed at NGO’s and members of the public. A final National Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, will mark the end of the series.

The Sectoral Workshops were working meetings where experts working within the identified sectors provided information on programmes and projects and existing and upcoming initiatives intended to minimize pollution of the coastal and marine environments.

NEPA is working in partnership with the Regional Co-ordinating Unit of the Caribbean Environment Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme CAR/RCU to ensure the success of this effort.

The NPA is a long-term process within which short to medium term goals and the strategies for achieving them including institutional arrangements will be established.

The quality of Jamaica's NPA is reliant on the level of effective participation at the Sectoral workshops and the decisions to be taken at the GOJ Round Table.

NEPA looks forward to your attendance and invaluable contribution to this most important event.