aug-2017c

12 13 T he road through the Bog Walk Gorge in Jamaica is a major thor- oughfare for vehicles travelling between the north and south coasts of that island. However, it is at times rendered impassable due to heavy rainfall and flash flooding, and this puts persons in surround- ing communities at risk. An automatic flood early warning system was previously installed on the Rio Cobre River, which is interlinked by the Bog Walk Gorge. The system has been rendered inoperable due to lightning strikes that disabled the transmitters. The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is providing grant funding of €219,000 to the government of Jamaica to upgrade the exist- ing flood monitoring system on the Rio Cobre. Funding is being provided through the African Caribbean Pacific-European Union-Caribbean Development Bank Natural Disaster RiskMan- agement (ACP-EU-CDB NDRM) in CARIFORUM Countries Program.The Rio Cobre is the third largest watershed management unit in Jamaica, and includes large sections of Spanish Town OPENING LINES CDB TO PROVIDE GRANT FUNDING FOR UPDATED FLOOD MONITORING SYSTEM IN JAMAICA and the fast growing municipality of Portmore. “Flooding of the Rio Cobre puts a number of communities at risk, and this project will help to support the delivery of accurate and early notifications to residents and key stakehold- er groups, such as motorists, the police, fire brigade, and emergency response personnel. We expect that this project will help to reduce the loss of life, and reduce damage caused by flooding. The upgraded system will also take advantage of solar renewable energy to en- able continued data and information during extreme weather events,” said Cheryl Dixon, Coordinator, Environmental Sustainability Unit, CDB. The project is scheduled to be completed over a 12-month period. It aligns with the purpose and objectives of the ACP-EU-NDRM program and CDB’s Climate Resilience Strat- egy 2012-2017, which prioritizes the main- streaming of climate change adaptation into sectoral policies, strategies, and plans. The ACP-EU-CDB NDRM Program is an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, funded by the European Union. It supports disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation activities in the CARIFO- RUM countries.