Come next month, the Government will launch a rural water resilience programme as it moves to ramp up rainwater harvesting among Jamaicans, where and when appropriate.

The announcement was made on Tuesday by minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda, at the commissioning ceremony for rainwater harvesting and upgraded irrigation systems, at the Forestry Department in St Andrew.

Samuda noted that the programme, “will be launched against the backdrop of Prime Minister [Andrew Holness] being able to table our rainwater harvesting guidelines, which will be gazetted and given to our planning agencies, municipalities and, indeed, NEPA [National Environment and Planning Agency], to ensure that where appropriate, it is installed in the most appropriate manner”.

According to Samuda, the Government understands that not every Jamaican will have the resources to address the need for rainwater harvesting and is making efforts to assist those who can.

“The Government will, over the next two to three years, distribute and install water tanks in 50,000 households. That’s a major, major investment in water resilience at the household level,” added Samuda.

He said at this level the initiative serves to ensure that the poorest Jamaicans can start to build their own water resilience and that they are able to take advantage of the rainfall within their area.

Samuda vowed that the distribution of the water tanks will be done very carefully and that social assessments will take place to ensure that the tanks go to the families most in need.