According to Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, the government is set to spend $31 billion on hard infrastructure this year, in a bid to boost climate resilience on the island.

“We are going to ensure that the roads that connect us to our transport hubs are the sort of roads that can withstand significant climatic and weather events that will allow the sector to get back up much faster,” he emphasized.

Senator Samuda was speaking at the Regional Ministers of Tourism Summit 2022, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James, on Wednesday (June 15).

The summit formed part of the World Free Zones Organization (World FZO) AICE Conference 2022, staged under the theme ‘Zones: 2022 Your Partner for Resilience, Sustainability, and Prosperity.

Senator Samuda said that focus will also be placed on “nature-based solutions that we know are critical to our survival”.

“We have an assessment, which is going on now, for things like our mangrove population right across the island, to ensure that we do protect our coastline, not just for tourists but certainly for our residents. We have 70 per cent of our residents living within five kilometers of the coast; that puts a lot of pressure on the coast, but we simultaneously must put a lot of investment into protecting that coast that, in turn, protects us,” he added.

Support The Readers Bureau Buy A T-Shirt Today (4 different colors)! click  https://www.bonfire.com/one-love-72/?fbclid=IwAR2bod-XSyrCPutOwG_SMnKiInk6Bqe2kCtjBsAFISqHluQcujrF2UUkFew

Readers Bureau, Contributor

Edited by Jesus Chan

Do you want to add feedback to this story?

Please add a comment in the box below or send an email to info@thereadersbureau.com,  Call us at 201-500-7715