OPPOSITION spokesman on environment and climate resilience Omar Newell has called for a sweeping reform of Jamaica’s environmental governance system, arguing that stronger safeguards are needed to ensure public confidence in how major environmental decisions are made.

Making his contribution to the sectoral debate in the House of Representatives Wednesday, Newell argued that Jamaica’s current environmental framework is no longer adequate for a country facing intensifying climate threats, growing development pressures and increasingly complex environmental disputes.

“One of the most important reforms Jamaica must confront is environmental governance itself. Because recent controversies have exposed structural weaknesses in the way environmental decisions are made in this country,” Newell said.