Brown questions disconnect between Jamaica’s climate ambitions and project delivery

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Despite $13.4 billion being allocated to five priority climate-change projects, only one has been completed, prompting questions about delays in work intended to strengthen Jamaica’s resilience to climate threats. Member of Parliament for St Mary South Eastern Christopher Brown questioned the slow progress at Tuesday’s sitting of the Public Accounts Committee, while Permanent Secretary Wayne Robertson pointed to staffing shortages, the effects of COVID-19 and procurement requirements as reasons for the delay. Brown said the repeated delays identified in the Auditor General’s report raised concerns about whether Jamaica was moving quickly enough to prepare for the effects of climate change, particularly at a time when the country was dealing with the impact of major hurricanes.

“I sense a disconnect between our activism on the global circuit as it relates to climate change and climate resilience as against the local resilient infrastructure, both on the legislative as well as the operational and strategic projects that need to be implemented,” Brown said. He questioned why projects continued to stall despite funding being available, arguing that the delays could undermine efforts to protect Jamaica’s water resources and improve its ability to withstand climate threats. Brown said the slow pace of the work was particularly concerning given the importance of protecting the country’s water supply and the challenges posed by drought.

“This is about protecting our water ecosystem. This is about protecting our water security. So if this arm is not operating at the resilient pace and speed, there is cause for concern,” he said.

Responding to the concerns, Robertson said the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed implementation across the public sector, while the climate-change programme had also struggled with limited staffing. He told the committee that the unit had operated with just three officers for about two years before its staff complement increased to six and later to eight. “So we were never at full scale during the implementation period.

That is significant because of the myriad work that was required at the time.