JICA and Marshall Islands officials signed an agreement Friday in Majuro for a five-year project to improve solid waste management in the country’s two urban centers where garbage litters streets and rusting vehicle skeletons abound.
The program in the Marshalls is part of a Japan-funded Pacific-wide waste improvement program.
JICA resident representative Junji Ishizuka signed the plan with Public Works Secretary Smith Ysawa. Majuro Atoll Waste Company general manager Roger Cooper, whose agency is taking the lead role with JICA, said it will boost under-funded waste collection and recycling programs begun in the past two years.
The Japanese will help with developing the country’s first national waste management strategy, and focus on improving recycling, composting and school-based recycling programs.
“We want to make a contribution for the beautification of Marshall Islands and a change of peoples’ thoughts and lifestyle through environmental education,” said Ishizuka.
The financial value of the plan was not release, but is expected to include equipment as well as technical assistance.
