The Jamaican Government says wetlands are important – and then hands out permits to destroy them. Why?

According to Petchary, The bulldozers are back. Jamaica is still reeling from the impact of one of the most violent storms in history, Hurricane Melissa. She didn’t brush past us last October – she smashed into us, head on, like an American NFL football player. Now, as the 2026 hurricane season shows signs of warming up (and our ocean is certainly warming) and El Niño is under way, the Government agency responsible for protecting our environment is handing out permits for the removal of precious wetlands on the north coast of the island. What a meaningless, thoughtless sacrifice to make, in these perilous times. Jamaican politicians love the word “resilience.” It has been thrown around in all kinds of contexts and used in almost every slogan, press briefing and webinar, ever since Melissa. As the Government itself has repeatedly reminded us – especially on the much-touted World We

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