Sustainable management of our blue assets is important - Samuda

Jamaica is to receive US$400,000 in technical assistance administered by the World Bank through its PROBLUE Trust Fund Initiative, which is aimed at supporting the sustainable development of blue economies of small island developing states.

Speaking at the Jamaica Blue Economy Framework Project Stakeholders’ Validation Workshop in Kingston recently, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Matthew Samuda, noted that the project facilitated a baseline assessment of Jamaica’s blue economy, which has been expanded to include the development of a draft road map and financing options paper.

“We have been taking care of the development of the varying sectors and segments of our blue economy; what we have lacked for a long time is cohesive strategy and management, and I think this road map and this exercise give you that route to cohesion, and that is something that we are particularly excited about,” Samuda said.

He added that “the implementation of the recommendations under the road map will indeed provide Jamaica with the opportunity to use the blue economy to realise the development aspirations reflected in Vision 2030”.

The project aims to create an enabling environment for the further development of Jamaica’s blue economy and the sustainable use and management of the country’s ocean and marine resources.

“The project can set us on a more cohesive path. We need to work in a manner that accepts the scale of the opportunity that the blue economy provides us…the blue economy can be three trillion (dollars) in 15 years, if we do the right things today,” the minister noted.

He said the blue economy offers Jamaica huge opportunities for sustainable economic development, adding that its contribution to gross domestic product is approximately 20 per cent.

“Our ocean’s resources are not unending; they are vast, but not unending. Therefore, the sustainable management of our blue assets is also important,” he added.

Samuda listed among the assets of the island’s blue economy, the significant opportunities for sustainable fishery practices; the ability to supply the regional needs of jobs in the blue economy; as well as the investment in blue talent and ocean education through institutions such as the Caribbean Maritime University and the University of Technology.

The PROBLUE initiative involves a US$200-million, multi-donor trust fund administered by the bank and is aimed at helping countries, such as Jamaica, to chart their course towards a sustainable blue economy.