Jamaica at forefront of environmental agenda, says PM Portia Simpson-Miller

By Michelle Nurse On Apr 2, 2015

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller (at podium), addressing the opening ceremony of the inaugural Inter-American Congress on the Environmental Rule of Law, at the Secrets Resorts in Montego Bay, St. James, on March 30. Seated at the head table (from left) are: Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill; Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), His Excellency Albert Ramdin; Director, Environmental Law and Conventions at the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Madam Elizabeth Mrema and Jamaica’s Chief Justice, Hon. Zaila McCalla. (Photo via Jamaica News)

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, says Jamaica, as a small island developing state, has always been at the forefront of the global environmental agenda.

Speaking (on Monday) at the opening of the first ever Inter-American Congress on the Environmental Rule of Law, at the Secrets Resorts in Montego Bay, Mrs. Simpson Miller said Jamaica’s presence on the global environmental agenda has been evident even before the 1970s.

“Long before the 1972 United Nations conference on human development, Jamaica had a conscious environmental agenda. Enactments such as the Beach Control Act, the Watershed Protection Act, the Wildlife Protection Act and the Fisheries and Public Health legislation, show our long term commitment to the protection of the natural environment and human health,” the Prime Minister pointed out.