The threat of increased penalties for companies comes in light of a fish in the Rio Cobre in St. Catherine.
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Environment Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. and 'Ossie', a resident of Kent Village in St. Catherine
Increased fines and penalties are coming for companies that breach the Wild Life Protection Act.
Environment Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. made the disclosure on Thursday as he reacted to the fish kill in the Rio Cobre in St. Catherine.
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) said preliminary tests revealed the presence of caustic effluent in the river and concluded that mining company, Windalco, was in breach of the Wild Life Protection Act.
Mr. Charles said the incident is unacceptable.
"The community members have to contend not just with the impact on the environment, but the public health issues, the impact on their livelihoods, the impact on their live, everything is connected.... That is why the government is amending the NRCA and the Wild Life Protection Act to increase fines and penalties because as it is now, they are not sufficient deterrents to this kind of action and we must send a strong signal to all companies in Jamaica that environmental protection is not optional," the minister warned.
NEPA is to issue an enforcement notice on Windalco for the unauthorised discharge.
The agency also plans to attach an environmental performance bond to Windalco's mining permit.
Not taking responsibility
Windalco has said it cannot accept responsibility for the fish kill in the Rio Cobre.
However, the company has admitted that there was a spill from its effluent holding pond on Sunday following heavy rains over several days.
The company says the spill affected areas in the vicinity of Byndloss and the Charlemont Foot Bridge.
According to Windalco, several measures were implemented to minimise and control the discharge.
The company disclosed that, based on its monitoring data and preventative measures, it is confident that the spillage did not have any deleterious impact on the environment.
Windalco added that the relevant agencies, including NEPA, and the Water Resources Authority were advised about the effluent discharge within 30 minutes of the incident.
Residents of Kent Village in St. Catherine again blocked the main road in the community on Thursday morning.
They complained about that the stench from the dead fish was "unbearable" and appealed for help to clean the Rio Cobre.
All feeds
