https://latv.com/afrolatino?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkuz69uX6-QIV-B6zAB08EQV8EAEYASAAEgI7hfD_BwE
LATV is more than a media company, it is a direct link to the growing voice of the Latino experience. As the original alternative, and only remaining Latino-owned TV network in the Hispanic television space, LATV has established itself as a pioneering network, a trend-setting brand, and an innovative content hub.
 KINGSTON, April 25, 2012 (IPS) - For more
than a week this past February, the city choked on the acrid smoke that
forced schools and business to close. It racked up millions of dollars in
lost production and an estimated 60 million dollars in firefighting costs as
the city tried to combat yet another fire at Kingston's Riverton city dump.
No one knows what toxins were released in the early days of the fire, even though the fumes triggered health scares in communities within a two-mile radius and, according to some, as far as the old capital, Spanish Town. Highlighting continued inadequacies in emissions control and air quality monitoring, the fire led to renewed calls for stricter air quality regulations, even as authorities have no plans to mitigate increasing greenhouse gas emissions and little knowledge about the substances Jamaicans breathe in each day. People didn't learn the levels of emissions until three days later, when the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) deployed monitoring devices to measure air quality and emissions. Their joint report noted, "The data collected gives a reasonable indication of the impact and provides a good baseline to make decisive actions and inform the public on the risk if an event of this magnitude should reoccur." NEPA's coordinator of air quality management, Gary Campbell, confirmed that "analysis indicated the presence of particulate matter at many times the levels to which humans should be exposed". According to Jamaica's second national report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), respiratory diseases were among the leading causes of hospitalisation and death in 2005. Health statistics also show that in 2008, respiratory illnesses were the second most treated complaint in hospitals across the island. Pollution tied to climate change Jamaica's need to reduce emissions and control air pollution is crucial to its efforts to adapt to climate change and its strategies to reduce greenhouse gases. Climate change is expected to increase levels of respiratory diseases and exacerbate conditions that contribute to them. The report also listed fires at waste disposal sites, leachate and emissions of methane as leading sources of pollution. Head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management Ronald Jackson has recommended permanent closure of the site, noting that Riverton has passed the five-year limit for landfill operations. "It is advice we have already given. We have also suggested options that include waste-to-energy options; air quality monitoring to know what is happening with the people who live near by and the capping of the dump," he said. Aside from Riverton, six other dump sites do
not meet international standards as landfills, and trash pickers often cause
fires by burning tyres and other material to salvage metals. It is reported
as well that extortionists sometimes set fires in a bid to create jobs out of
the need to extinguish the blaze. Jamaica's inadequate trash collection system means that only 70 to 75 percent of household garbage reaches the dumps. There are no separate industrial dump sites. With most of rural Jamaica lacking regular garbage collection, estimates of garbage that is burnt, buried or improperly disposed of fall between 191,000 and 228,787 tonnes each year. Also contributing to emissions are farmers who use fire to clear the land, the production of charcoal and the burning of cane to facilitate reaping. In Negril, fumes from cane fires and burning peat are the bane of the resort town's idyllic setting because cane fires coincide with the height of the tourist season, while peat fires smother the town during the summer, the hottest time of the year. Industrial emissions are also reportedly on the rise. The UNFCC report noted increases in emissions from electricity generation and that emissions should increase with the expected restart of the bauxite and alumina industry. Carbon dioxide emissions data show a steady increase between 2000 and 2005, from 9,531 gig grams to 13,946 gig grams, when there were between 381,776 and 501,985 motor vehicles on the island. Data also show increases in particulates, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide and methane levels. Today motor vehicles number more than a million. Conflicting interests "Unfortunately, there are no efforts to manage air quality," Simone Williams, technical director at the Negril Environmental Protection Trust (NEPT), told IPS. Williams said that despite obvious increases in the level of pollutants, Jamaica had no initiatives to mitigate greenhouse gases, a view shared by the experts. Peat fires, in addition to being "an inconvenience", also affect "the hotel infrastructure (and) people's health", Williams added. But recent work to restore the wetlands will "significantly reduce the fires and emissions", he said, "if not eliminate it". But eliminating fires in the Morass, despite its protected status, could prove challenging, as many farmers make their living there, Damian Salmon, chairman of the Negril Chamber Of Commerce said. "Restoring the wetlands would solve a lot of Negril's problems including the loss of the beach, because the ecosystems are interconnected, but we can't drown out the farmers. Many will tell you that they have nowhere else to go," he noted. All agree that air quality monitoring is essential. But NEPA's CEO Peter Knight pointed to critical shortcomings in the collection of solid waste and the urgent need for effective public awareness programmes to drive home the negative effects of open burning. The agency has already begun to plug the holes in air quality regulations, which has no emissions standards for motor vehicle and open burning. At its drafting, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Ambient Air Quality Standards Regulations (2006) aimed to use permits and licenses to control emissions from industrial installations. "We are revisiting the act and are working with the relevant agencies. There are already draft motor vehicle emissions standards," Campbell said. He added that the NEPA had not negated its responsibility, but rather had sought to prevent overlapping legislation by including only industrial emissions. "NEPA is not responsible for the monitoring of motor vehicle emissions," Knight elaborated. "That is the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport. There are the Country Fires Act under the Fire Brigade that covers open burning and the Public Health Act under the Ministry of Health." But environmentalists want to see stiffer penalties for open burning. The fine of 2,000 Jamaican dollars and/or three months in prison under the Fires Act are considered too lenient to deter offenders. Nevertheless, the findings after the Riverton fire have prompted NEPA to recommend additional equipment and monitoring for at least a year. The agency is also seeking funds to increase its monitoring sites across the island. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107578 |
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Black
Emergency Managers Association International
ashington,
D.C. 20020
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bEMA International
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Cooperation,
Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and
Partnering (C5&P)
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A 501
(c) 3 organization
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“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is
today. We are confronted with the
fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding
conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination
is still the thief of time.
Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost
opportunity.
This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos or community.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘Where Are We Going
From Here: Chaos or Community’.
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RFP alert
Posted: August 31, 2022
Deadline: September 19, 2022 (Expressions of interest)
Grants will be awarded to support nonprofits as they progress on their
respective data journeys while equipping nonprofit teams with the mentorship,
tools, and expertise they require to develop and test proof-of-concept data
approaches that rely on large, complex datasets....
U.S.
open the gateway, the door for volunteer organizations, associations, and others
to provide assistance with no repercussions.
Fire fighting, disaster\emergency management organizations are ready to assist.
Provide the steps for assistance.
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HAVANA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Cuba said on Friday it sought U.S.
technical assistance in cleaning up after a massive fire at an oil storage
facility that killed 16 fire fighters.
Experts from Cuba and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency met virtually on Wednesday to
discuss the clean-up effort at the Matanzas supertanker port east of Havana
in what the Cuban foreign ministry characterized as a “professional and
fruitful exchange.”
Cuba asked for an assessment of its efforts so far and about
gaining access to innovative U.S. techniques and procedures from the EPA,
other agencies and oil companies, the foreign ministry said.
A lightning strike ignited an oil storage tank at Matanzas
three weeks ago, and the fire spread to three more tanks. It was extinguished
after a week, and the government said it was the worst fire in the Caribbean
island’s history.
The United States considers Communist-run Cuba, just over 100
miles offshore, to be an enemy and has maintained a comprehensive sanctions
regime on it since soon after former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
At the time of the fire,
the United States offered technical advice by phone.
Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
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YOUR PROPOSAL WAS APPROVED!
Now time to receive the funds to your accounts.
Options are available.
 Introducing Grant Payments with PayPal No more waiting on paper check   As a confirmed charity, you will be able to receive grants from participating donor-advised funds, community foundations, and other grant makers right to your account with PayPal.
Here's how it works:
To launch Grant Payments, we’re partnering with leading national donor-advised fund sponsors, National Philanthropic Trust and Vanguard Charitable to get funds to you, faster. Keep an eye on your email—if you’re due to
receive grants from National Philanthropic Trust, they could start arriving
at any time, and grants from Vanguard Charitable in 2023- so stay tuned! |
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Black Emergency Managers
Association International Washington,
D.C. |
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The impacts of climate change. Food Insecurity. A State of Emergency.
Preserve our small farmer industry in communities.
Understand the policies and influence the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has that affects Latino, Black, and small farmers since its’ inception.
From the water & food industry pricing to housing\shelter pricing, supply chain issues. A crisis and stressor on one critical infrastructure sector effects other sectors.
Effects and impacts on consumers? High pricing.
BEMA International
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Amid historic global mega drought, the US Federal
Government is cutting water deliveries as thousands of farmers kill off crops
and downsize their herds. #foodwars #meatprices #prepper#prepping #survival #foodshortage #foodprices
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Black
Emergency Managers Association International Washington,
D.C. 20020 |
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bEMA International |
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Cooperation,
Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and
Partnering (C5&P) |
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A 501 (c) 3 organization
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“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos or community. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
‘Where Are We Going From Here: Chaos or Community’.
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