One year later, the JPS Foundation remains committed to its plan to restore the Sturridge Park mangrove.

Sophia Lewis, head of the JPS Foundation, said, “We are concerned about energy management, but we are equally concerned about the cleaning of our environment and going into this season, decarbonization is a pillar for JPS. As a foundation, climate resilience is part of our mission.”  

The statement was made during a clean-up exercise of the Sturridge Park mangrove along the Palisadoes stretch in Kingston, in observance of World Wetlands Day on Friday, February 2.

A year ago, JPS and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), formally announced a J$7 million, five-year partnership to adopt and restore the Sturridge mangroves that were lost to human interference and pollution from the Kingston Harbour.

Lewis explained that the area was being cleaned in preparation to plant 500 saplings in March.

Italee Patterson, NEPA’s environmental officer with oversight management for the Palisadoes/Port Royal protected area and the Blue and John Crow Mountain National Park, said the environmental agency installed mesh fencing last December to curtail debris from coming ashore and affecting the mangroves.  The effort was part of its collaborative arrangement with JPS.

She disclosed that ongoing efforts to clean and preserve the mangrove areas sees 35 recruited residents from the Port Royal community as part of the Adopt-A-Mangrove Programme. “They had water quality training with our Pollution monitoring and assessment branch, as well as with the Kingston Harbour Ecosystem Adaptation Measures Project where they were trained in mangrove restoration work in  how to monitor the site, and grow the seedlings,” she said.

For 64-year-old Roy Brown, a NEPA-trained game warden, who was present alongside 10 other Port Royal residents, latex-gloved JPS volunteers, mangrove-maintenance game wardens from Port Royal, and members from the Jamaica Defence Force’s Coast Guard unit, said,“ me like the cleanliness, and that is the way to go, keep the place clean.”

Brown describing his role as a game warden, said, “we go in the mangroves, and take out the dead logs and bottles to make the mangrove breathe free. About 20 of us work together as a team. I love my job very much that’s why I am here, I am no chick, I am fowl and I love it still.”

Elated to travel in from St. Ann for the clean-up exercise was JPS customer service representative Debbie Foster, as part of the energy company’s Volunteers On Location To Serve (VOLTS) cadre.

“I am indeed environmentally minded, and I wanted to be part of something that is meaningful to the environment and the country and I thought this would have been a great initiative,” she said.

In-between filling her garbage bag with assorted plastics and bulky waste from the litter-strewn area, Foster said her environmental appreciation originated from growing up in a farming community in Spaldings, Manchester. “It’s always been something I’m interested in, and seeing the mangrove in a messy state like this is not something I am happy about, so definitely I welcome being part of anything that is conserving the environment,” she added.

The JPS Foundation will throughout the year be focusing on environmental initiatives through its Power Up Energy Clubs in secondary schools. Additionally, the Foundation will be engaging in tree planting and other climate action initiatives on special calendar days.