JET boss gives agreement thumbs up
Suzanne Stanley, Chief Executive Officer for JET, also welcomed news of the agreement.
“Although JET has observed some improvement in access to information and public participation in environmental decision-making over the years, we still have a long way to go to in Jamaica. We hope that the implementation of Principle 10 at the local level will serve to strengthen Jamaica’s related legislation and policies, and improve the way environmental decisions are made on the ground,” she said.
“The treaty also speaks directly to the protection of environmental defenders. Of course, this is particularly significant for JET as we engage in our environmental advocacy campaigns. We look forward to seeing how this will translate in the local context and hope that these protections will encourage others to speak out on environmental issues,” he added.
Andrade said that to her mind, there are enough incentives for countries and, in par ticular, Jamaica, to ratify.
“For example, it will reduce social conflict. Most of the time, there is a development and there is a group protesting about it because they have been denied their procedural rights ... When you are able to enjoy and exercise procedural rights in a meaningful way, you are reducing social conflict,” said the attorney.
There are also capacitybuilding benefits to be enjoyed in the effort to raise standards.
“It is also my understanding that these are things that are not outside of the realm of what the Government considers reasonable. Throughout the negotiations, their approach is that ‘we are going to be negotiating this as though it were legally binding’ and that either it is something that they have in the law or something they have contemplated they would want to introduce into it. So I don’t see why there should be any barriers to the Government signing and ratifying it,” she said.