As Jamaica’s Human Capital Development Agency, the HEART/NSTA Trust is committed to creating opportunities for training and certification. Our partnership division works assiduously to seek out and forge mutually beneficial partnerships that will assist the agency; to achieve its goals by providing opportunities to the nation’s youth and specifically upskilling our country’s workforce. Research has shown that the JNBS Foundation has been doing a great job impacting the lives of our communities through various initiatives and partnerships. The foundation prides itself on being an innovative developmental agency like us and we, therefore, foresee this being a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership that will provide intrinsic value to our nation’s youth and the environment.

HEART takes its Corporate Social Responsibility seriously as it demonstrates that the organisation’s ethical, economic, and social commitment to the continued well-being of our country. The economic shock brought about by COVID-19 requires a collaborative and coordinated approach to overcome and rebound stronger. Thus, the Trust will rise to the challenge and lend its corporate responsibility efforts to being a part of the solution to the issues brought about by crises.

Heavy rains linked to several weather systems in October and November last year have caused severe devastation to the nation’s infrastructure. The climatic conditions last year gave rise to the most active hurricane season on record and underscored the need for environmental development and sustainability. Therefore, projects like JNBS Foundations’ Water Project Jamaica, are much needed and were designed to address water management issues related to climate change, which is the most serious threat to sustainable development facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The project aims to tackle the issue through the provision of an impactful, scalable model for greater efficiency in Jamaica. Enhancing Jamaica’s climate resilience using water adaptation technology in the country’s housing sector and we at HEART intend to work closely with JN to achieve that.

The HEART/NSTA Trust through its vocational training institutions is mandated to enable the provision of technical and vocational education in both the public and private sectors. This with an aim for students to obtain the specific competencies, knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to compete globally. We are committed to delivering training and certification of a total of three hundred persons as we collaborate with the Foundation in developing and implementing training programmes. These training programmes will include but will not be limited to rainwater harvesting systems and Greywater recycling systems for which our qualified staff will recommend instructors for the Train-the-Trainer. To facilitate this, we will also provide training facilities, whether physical or online as well as training material and equipment.

The major benefits of greywater recycling include reduction of freshwater extraction from rivers and aquifers, lessening the impact from wastewater treatment plant infrastructure, nitrification of the topsoil, Reduced energy use, and chemical pollution from treatment, replenishment of groundwater, increased agricultural productivity, and improved quality of surface and groundwater.

Rainwater Harvesting also improves: the quality of surface and groundwater, helps in reducing water bills, reduces the demand for imported water, promotes water and energy conservation, and reduces soil erosion, stormwater runoff, flooding, and pollution of surface water with fertilizers, pesticides, metals, and other sediments. Having students trained in these areas and able to apply their expertise will have long term positive environmental benefits that should excite and breathe hope into environmentalists and regular citizens alike.

Our desire is for this partnership to be a longstanding one and as such we expect continual collaboration to explore and promote joint research projects concerning sustainable development, climate change, energy efficiency, and related areas associated with water, housing, and land management. We also desire to establish scholarships, grants, and bursaries to enhance continuing professional development training courses in the areas associated with sustainable development, climate change, energy efficiency, and related areas associated with water, housing, and land management.

We are committed to the monitoring and evaluation of training that is stipulated to take place within the context of the partnership. We will collaborate with JNBS to ensure that we are adequately meeting the needs of the company and our obligations outlined in the MOU. Monitoring and evaluation will provide us with the information that will indicate how effective the activities under the partnership have been and ensure that the partnership is consistently mutually beneficial over the period.

There is a lot of work to do but I believe through this partnership and collaboration among the various parties this will be a productive, long-lasting, and viable partnership. We at HEART acknowledge the widescale impact of climate change on our environment and believe this initiative will have long-term positive intrinsic benefits for our sustainable development. We are also of the belief that all the individuals who benefit from the training will be markedly impacted in a positive manner as they will be equipped with the necessary vocational expertise and aptitudes to assist with improving water systems within the island. Therefore, we are extremely delighted to embark on a partnership that allows us to do just that. We are aware of the output that is expected of us, and we are excited to partner with JNBS as we work towards achieving the goals outlined within the partnership agreement.

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