KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica will be the first country in the Caribbean region to receive a coastal erosion monitoring tower, which is to be erected at the Hellshire Beach in Portmore, St Catherine, given the dire state of coastal erosion in that area, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

The tower will be installed under the “Impact Assessment of Climate Change on the Sandy Shorelines of the Caribbean Project”, which is an initiative of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).

According to a release from the ministry, the objective is to establish a regional network for coastal erosion monitoring, geared towards understanding how climate change affects our region’s beaches.

“Detailed erosion monitoring is particularly important to climate change adaptation, and is necessary for sustainable long term coastal protection solutions. Without such data, proposed engineering solutions sometimes exacerbate existing erosion problems. The data and models produced by this project will also help to build the case for provision of climate finance to SIDS (small island developing states) such as Jamaica,” added the ministry.

The project is valued at US$4 million and is being funded by the Republic of Korea, through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), with specialised technical assistance from the Government of Cuba.

The Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) is also working with Jamaica for the second phase of evaluation for the implementation of the project, which was discussed during the visit of a joint delegation of the three entities from August 7-10, 2018

Other countries receiving support include Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.

“The Government of Jamaica, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the High Commission of Jamaica in Port of Spain accredited to the ACS, has expressed full commitment to this project which is expected to provide significant capacity building support in terms of shoreline monitoring.

“It will also complement the Government’s ongoing efforts to monitor and rehabilitate the Hellshire Community, and other parts of the island in need of shoreline replenishment,” said the release.

The Sandy Shorelines project will be implemented through the Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEG-JC), the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), and the Urban Development Commission (UDC).