The Editor, Sir:

The National Environ-ment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is undertaking a study of the Canoe Valley area on behalf of its client the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA). The study is being funded by the NRCA to whom a full report and the results are to be presented.

It is hoped that the field studies, which include archae-ological, socio-economic, water quality and biological surveys, will provide baseline data which will be used to determine the future status of the Canoe Valley, a proposed protected area since the 1960s.

In June 2006, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) requested a copy of the proposed study under the Access to Information Act. At the time of the request, the study was then only a proposal. Several field visits later, a formal study was undertaken and a work plan designed with a timeline for completion of December 2006. Due to matters outside the control of the Agency, however, the completion date of the study was pushed to mid-2007 and the timeline adjusted.

In April 2007, three community meetings were held in and around the study areas to discuss, among other things, the preliminary findings of the fieldwork and socio-economic information. The information from these meetings is being compiled for inclusion into the overall study of Canoe Valley.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION:

In an attempt to satisfy its legal obligation under the Access to Information Act, NEPA has undertaken to make available these preliminary findings to JET, the organisation requesting the information. Community meetings were advertised in the usual manner via town-crier services, radio and other media announce-ments and the distribution of flyers in the communities. These were the methods chosen by the communities themselves, as the best means of contact.

Please note that the ATI request is for information relating to the study of the area - a study that is not complete and the result of which has not yet been presented to the client, the NRCA. While the study is ongoing, NEPA has already conveyed its intention to make the presentations available to JET. The Agency and the NRCA are committed to making the full study available as soon as the NRCA Board has accepted it.

By advertising its public meetings, NEPA is giving all interested parties the opportu-nity to attend. In situations such as these, special attention is given to the individual communities in which the specific activity is being undertaken. Information about public meetings is also posted on the agency's website at http://www.nepa.gov.jm.

I am, etc.,

Zadie P. Neufville

Public Education Officer

National Environment and

Planning Agency (NEPA)