The World Bank has identified tourism and agriculture as two of the main drivers of economic development for Jamaica and will focus its investments on these two subsectors under the second Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI 2), following the success of REDI 1 which ended in 2016-2017.
“We are financing the entire REDI 2 programme in helping Jamaica to achieve is economic objectives,” Operations Officer Dionne O’Connor told The Gleaner during last Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the tilapia hatchery upgrade in Twickenham Park, St Catherine.
The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) is the implementing agency for the construction of the facility which will be operated by the National Fisheries Authority, an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining. The lot, which is next to the Registrar General’s Department, is earmarked for the construction of a 12,000-square-foot bio-secure, climate-resilient modular tilapia hatchery, with a tertiary-level sewage treatment system also included.
Omar Sweeney, managing director of the JSIF, explained that this upgrade is consistent with the Government’s plan to revolutionise its tilapia hatchery operations by incorporating state-of-the-art technology and innovative methodologies.
“This investment will not only boost production capacity, but also elevate the quality of tilapia stokes, ensuring healthier and more resilient fish stock being available in the Jamaican marketplace,” he told the groundbreaking ceremony. A recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), which is projected to use about 10 per cent less water than a conventional hatchery, while occupying far less land area, is a critical component of this facility.
Meanwhile, among those in attendance was Roger Lyn, director of strategic partnerships for Rainforest Seafoods Limited, who was clearly impressed and definitely supportive of the project.
“We are here to support the initiative because we think it is something for the future in terms of sustainability, and we are playing a key role in terms of how things go in the future. We do trade some fish through our retail stores, but would also love to be doing this in a bigger, scalable way. So we want to see the efficiency happen in the industry in terms of feed conversion and committing to some more sustainable ways of growing tilapia.
“The whole issue of protecting the farmers, teaching them about the technology, about doing business, getting more people to eat tilapia, because that’s very important because I think there are a lot of myths out there. We are basically saying, ‘Yes, let’s keep this going’; and we are here to play a role as marketers and suppliers,” he told The Gleaner.
At the press launch, held in March last year, Bernard Sustainable Engineering Company did the final design and bill of quantities for the hatchery, and engineer Keroma Bernard said: “We ensured that the upgraded hatchery meets international standards for bio-security, which is of the utmost importance in the prevention of diseases in the aquaculture sector.”
Bernard added: “There is also rainwater harvesting, solar integration, buffer zone, porous parking and, as it relates to the wastewater treatment system, it’s a tertiary component system that includes an anaerobic baffled reactor, reed bed and a chlorination chamber that, based on the design process, will exceed the National Environment and Planning Agency’s required standard for all parameters for which they assess.
“So, in the overall theme and push for smarter and more integrated buildings, we have to look at what is happening inside for the occupants, as well as what is happening outside for the general public. This because we want to make sure that in all of this development, that we maintain the level of climate resilience that is needed for it to last a very long time.”