Kingston Wharves observed Earth Day by staging two key community outreach activities in Newport West – They were an Earth Day Clean-up and Recycling exercise as well as a stakeholders meeting to discuss health, safety and sanitation within the port community.
The clean-up and recycling saw over 50 volunteers from Kingston Wharves, Seaboard Marine, Jamaica Freight, other companies and vendors fan out throughout Newport West to clean-up and carry our recycling.
The theme for Earth Day was Plastics vs the Planet. According to earthday.org, the theme, “Is a call to advocate for widespread awareness on the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion.”
Roan Campbell, Safety, Health and Environment Manager at Kingston Wharves underscored that Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles were hazardous to the environment. Citing information from the UN, Mr. Campbell noted that the world produced over 430 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, adding that plastics were not biodegradable and took over 1000 years to break down. He added that plastics also caused damage to wildlife, damage to soil, human and animal health and contaminated ground water.
Meanwhile, Simone Murdock, Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager at KWL said that the clean-up and recycling as well as the community stakeholders meetings were part of Kingston Wharves’ environment, social and governance policy that adhered to tenets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mrs. Murdock noted that the community meeting was geared at engaging with stakeholders to enhance the safety, health, sanitation and general environs of the port community. “The port community is where we work and spend most of our days, it is important that we do all we can to enhance its aesthetic, safety and health for the persons who work here, but also for those who visit the community to do business.” She also cited the importance of the community to the economic development of the country.
The community meeting saw presentations from leaders in the port community as well as a public health expert who took the vendors and others in attendance through food safety and sanitization protocols, among other topics.
Kingston Wharves General Manager for KW Logistics Dianna Blake-Bennett and SAJ President and CEO of Seaboard Jamaica have a conversation with senior officers at the KWL Earth Day Stakeholders Meeting at the Total Logistics Facility Conference Room.
Shipping Association of Jamaica President and Seaboard Jamaica CEO Corah-Ann Sylvester talking with vendors from the Newport West community at a meeting organised by Kingston Wharves to discuss safety, health and sanitation in the port community as part of the observance of Earth Day.
KWL’s Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager Simone Murdock (second left) and Safety, Health and Environment Manager Roan Campbell (second right) along with SAJ President and CEO of Seaboard Jamaica, Corah-Ann Sylvester (centre), Jamaica Freight CEO Anna Hamilton (third right) and Varon England, Kingston and St. Andrew Health, Department. They are joined by two senior officers of the Newport West Police. Occasion was KWL Earth Day Stakeholders Meeting at the Total Logistics Facility Conference Room.
The KWL team joined by stakeholders clean up and recycle in the port community.
