Mobay marine park seeking to reinstall ocean litter containment boom

The Montego Bay Marine Park Trust in St James is on a mission to reinstall an ocean litter containment boom to trap floating debris that enters the sea from the South Gully.

Executive Director of the Trust, Hugh Shim, told JIS News that the park is currently seeking funding.

He is also extending an open invitation to government agencies and corporate Jamaica to get on board and support the project.

“There were benefits having it (the boom) here,” Shim said.

He outlined that the previous project was funded under the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) Clean Coast Project and ended in 2018 after a two-year stint.

“We even had a study every time we collected the garbage. When we collected it, we actually sorted the garbage to see how many bottles, bags, condoms, cigarettes and Styrofoam boxes were taken up. We got an idea of what’s coming down the gully and what we need to start controlling,” Shim explained

“So, that was part of the benefit as well,” he added.

Shim said the re-establishment of the containment boom will also complement the ban on single-use plastic bags and polystyrene foam in Jamaica.

According to him, Montego Bay’s harbour has seen a significant reduction of the banned materials.

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