Page 97 - JSIF Magazine Approved-v2-web4

Improving

Environmental
Sustainability

By Dr. Milton Clarke, Manager, Systems

Operations & Environment, JSIF

Rainwater harvesting and solar energy systems at REDI
greenhouse project.

Jamaica has been plagued by dumping, burning of waste and discharge of untreated sewage;
a multiplicity of environmental and illegal settlements. The poor living conditions make them
problems. Pollution of ground and extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and
surface water, destruction of coastal disease outbreaks.
ecosystems, deforestation, air
pollution, soil erosion, overfishing, Mindful of its contribution to Jamaica’s environmental
coastal erosion, poor solid waste management (SWM) and sustainability development goals, JSIF took deliberate
unsustainable energy consumption are cited as some of the policy decisions to direct concerted efforts at environmental
major issues confronting the country. Jamaica’s environmental management. The organization has created and built on
issues are especially pervasive in poor communities, such different levels of environmental management in order to reduce
as those which the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) the negative environmental impact of its project activities. In
is mandated to serve. These communities are characterized 2009, JSIF gained the landmark achievement of ISO 14001
by poor Solid Waste Management (SWM) infrastructure certification; making it the first governmental organization in
and services; excessive environmental pollution from illegal the Caribbean, whose Environmental Management System has

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