‘Never serious about environment’ - JLP challenges PNP’s green credentials in debate

The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has mocked the Opposition’s pledge to establish an independent tribunal for the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), charging that the People’s National Party (PNP) has “never been serious about environmental protection.”

An independent tribunal for NEPA is among a number of measures the PNP says it would introduce if it forms the next government.

The exchange came on Saturday as teams from the JLP and the PNP squared off in the first political debate that focused on social issues.

They were responding to a query from the watchdog group, Jamaica Environment Trust, about the measures either party would put in place to clamp down on polluters and pollution incidents, including frequent fish kills.

The concerns follow the recent collapse of two criminal cases against private sector firms accused of polluting the St Catherine-based river Rio Cobre.

Sophia Frazer-Binns, PNP spokesperson on the environment and ecological heritage, said under a PNP-led government, NEPA, the country’s regulatory authority for the environment, would become an independent body.

“We will have a second look at NEPA. We will ensure that the body that is charged with the protection of the environment does its work,” said Frazer-Binns, a member of the three-member PNP debate team.

She did not disclose details about the proposed independent tribunal.

However, Matthew Samuda, a member of the JLP team and the Cabinet minister in charge of the environment, charged that the PNP "has never been serious about environmental protection" and has not demonstrated leadership on environmental issues.

He recalled a proposal by a former PNP administration to develop a logistics hub on the Goat Islands, a national heritage site.

Samuda noted, too, that PNP President Mark Golding “could not bring himself” to vote for the ban on single-use plastic, which was approved by Parliament.

He cited the Government’s decision to draw down on a $117 million bond during one of the recent pollution incidents at the Rio Cobre as evidence that the JLP has demonstrated leadership on environmental issues.

The drawdown was the “single largest consequence” for an environmental breach in Jamaica’s history, Samuda insisted.

“This Government is serious about the environment and we have demonstrated so.”

- Livern Barrett

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