Samuda: Enviro protection can’t be separated from economic growth discussions

Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, said the Government’s upcoming waste-to-energy programme will generate some 60 megawatts of energy.

Waste-to-energy plants burn municipal solid waste to produce steam in a boiler that is used to generate electricity.

Currently, Jamaica generates an estimated 1.4 million tonnes of garbage annually, the vast majority of which is dumped or buried at one of the eight landfills across the country.

The waste-to-energy programme was previously announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who said that it would revolutionise how Jamaicans dispose of refuse.

In November 2022, Holness announced that two sites had been identified to construct the plants, but did not divulge the locations.

While speaking at the Caribbean Maritime University’s Port Royal Lecture Series on The Blue Economy: Regeneration and Resilience on Tuesday, Samuda said a deposit refund scheme will force people to return bottles, noting that the Government is also looking at regulations around particular toxic chemicals.

“There is no silver bullet to problems developed over longer than we’ve been independent. Reality is, some of our infrastructure doesn’t lend itself to good waste collection. It’s why we have redevelop many of our degraded areas. It’s why we have to ensure our roadways are wide enough for trucks to be able to collect the waste where it is collected,” the minister said.

Samuda emphasised another problem that Jamaicans are seeing, which is a loss of habitats because of the construction activities.

“We’re also seeing the rate of nutrient flow, which is sewage and agricultural run-off going into near-shore environments. [This is] damaging our near-shore environment, so our own actions on land, in many ways, are damaging our blue economic prospects,” Samuda said.

“So environmental protection cannot be separated from the discussion of economic growth. It cannot be separated from economic development and that, if nothing else, is what I hope will be taken away from the discussion,” he said.

The minister noted that Jamaica continues to struggle with addressing plastic pollution despite bans implemented in 2019.

Additionally, he said that the country will see some $7 billion in infrastructure investments this year, up from last year’s $4 billion, with non-revenue water, increased storage and greater resilience in the water sector being targeted.

“The reality is, we have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time if we are to leverage the value of our assets on land and leverage the value of our assets at sea, and, we are on the front lines of climate change, which exacerbate the problem and means we have to work that much faster if we’re to take advantage of the systems that we have,” he said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com