New agency whose time has come

If ever an organization’s time has come, then surely it is this year’s creation of the Caribbean Marine Environment Protection Agency (Caribmepa). 

Probably long overdue and much needed – especially as environmental issues continue to move center stage and as a green spotlight is being shone with greater intensity on the shipping industry – Caribmepa appears to be a small but significant regional step in the right direction.

There are a few people to thank for getting the still fledgling Caribmepa organization off the ground with the agency’s origin story going something like this…

In September 2016 the Women in Maritime Association – Caribbean (WiMAC) held its first-ever conference at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort and to which Colin Young was invited. Mr Young is the International Maritime Organization (IMO) representative to the Caribbean. In his presentation, he pointed out that while 86 per cent of Caribbean nations had ratified Marpol only 25 per cent had actually implemented the convention.

By coincidence, Carleen Lyden Walker, who is the co-founder/executive director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (Namepa) was also a speaker at the same conference and learned of this situation.

Conference

So, working with Sherice Arman, who is both a WiMAC member and President of Wista-Cayman (Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association), there was a follow-on conference in Grand Cayman in May last year. This subsequent meeting began the process of building Caribmepa.

The initial vision was to construct Caribmepa as an “association of associations” to gain the critical mass necessary to develop the agency. At the same time, Ms Lyden Walker has the benefit of maritime industry longevity and is also an IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador. So has been appointed co-leader of the new organization.

Caribmepa fellow co-leader Rawle Baddaloo, a past president of the CSA, explains: “It was through her connections and energy that we were able to gain the attention and participation of these significant maritime entities. But it wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment and support of these groups to protect the Caribbean Sea.”

Focus

The two co-leaders issued this joint statement to Caribbean Maritime: “In essence, the focus of Caribmepa is to support the implementation of Marpol in the Caribbean by providing education, capacity building, access to waste reception facilities, a program to evaluate potentially polluting shipwrecks, and the establishment of a Marpol Training Academy. Every day that Marpol is not implemented and enforced is another day closer to a pollution event that will impact both the natural environment but also the GDP of the Caribbean nations. With the increased ship traffic now coming through the Caribbean, time is of the essence to secure the region.

The two paint a stark picture. “There is a combination of factors which are coming together to create enormous environmental risks in the Caribbean. Society’s waste management practices need to be corrected with municipalities unable to control consumer refuse in landfills or it being discarded.

“Some countries are now eliminating single-use plastic, but it will take a long period of education and behavioral change before it will have an impact. Garbage in the waters and on the beaches will cause tourists (representing 80 per cent of the region’s GDP) to go elsewhere. The same exists for oil pollution. If the beaches are fouled, the vital tourism industry will collapse.” Caribmepa has a five-pronged work agenda:

• Education of the public on the impacts of marine debris on the marine environment. WiMAC is also moving this agenda forward with materials supplied by Namepa.
• Support a nation’s efforts to develop legislation implementing Marpol through capacity building workshops. These will be followed by enforcement workshops.
• Work with countries to advance their waste management capabilities through both port waste management programs and “waste-to-energy” facilities.
• Establishment of a Marpol Training Academy to further education on Marpol for both shoreside and seagoing personnel.
• Do a risk assessment of the 300 known potentially polluting shipwrecks in the Caribbean, of which around 90 per cent are over 50 years old. These wrecks need to be prioritized for their risk to the marine environment and a program for the removal of hazardous materials be implemented.

Activity

Meanwhile, the CSA has fully embraced Caribmepa and has been fully supportive of its mission. Rawle Baddaloo has agreed to be a co-leader along with Ms Lyden Walker and the CSA has enabled him to represent Caribmepa at high-level regional meetings. Roland Malins-Smith is also a key advisor and has been instrumental in securing Caribmepa’s establishment as a force in the region. As Caribmepa builds, the CSA will have a pivotal role in furthering the agenda to ‘Save our Seas’.

Timeline

These are early days. At time of writing, Caribmepa had yet to receive funding and a secretariat had still to be established. Incorporation was in process and admission fees were being finalized.