ONCE AGAIN the polluted and dying Kingston Harbour has been the subject of debate and discussion. This time in the nation's Parliament which sits only a few hundred metres from the harbour. Ronald Thwaites, MP for Central Kingston where Rae Town, one of the largest fishing bases in the island is located, has brought a private member's motion in defence of "the economic and social potential of the Kingston Harbour."
Kingston Harbour has been exhaustively studied since the benchmark work of Dr Barry Wade in the mid-1960s. Its progressive deterioration, largely under the pressure of industrial and sewage pollution, has been extensively documented. Everyone agrees that the seventh largest natural harbour in the world is an enormously valuable natural resource. The harbour was once a major source of fish, and its recreational use by locals and for tourism has scarcely been realised.
Contributing to the debate last week, former Minister of the Environment, Easton Douglas, estimated that Kingston Harbour has the potential to generate US$510 million in revenue. The lack of political will to clean up the harbour came across clearly from the statement of this former Cabinet member. Having pointed out that 65 per cent of the 3,589 vessels coming to Jamaica each year move 20.5 million tonnes of cargo through the Port of Kingston, Mr. Douglas, now a backbencher, wanted to know "why some of the money earned could not be pumped back into what we want to do in terms of the restoration of the Kingston Harbour?"
US$300 million is the figure being tossed around for the clean-up of the harbour over 15 years. Members of Parliament unanimously supported the resolution. The recommendation of Opposition MP Audley Shaw that the Government not spend more money on further studies but use what is available to begin implementation of the findings of previous studies received full endorsement. Water and Housing Minister, Dr Karl Blythe, had indicated in the Sectoral Debate in June that US$20 million would be made available. It is left to be seen if the unanimous voice of the Parliament can propel actual rehabilitation of one of the country's prime natural resources which has been so abused and studied.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
