NEPA – IWEco Project: Delayed Implementation of Project Activities

Auditor General's Findings

The 2023/2024 Auditor General’s Annual Report (subsections 3.2.56–3.2.65) Project) covered the audit of the Integrated Water, Land and Ecosystems (IWEco) Project for the four-year period ended December 31, 2022. The Project is financed by a US$3.114 million grant from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) under the Global Environment Facility (GEF), co-financed by US$10.343 million from various agencies, with counterpart funding of US$43.8 million from the Government of Jamaica. The grant was to be disbursed over four years from May 31, 2018, but UNEP approved an extension of the completion date to September 30, 2024 to facilitate completion of Project activities.

The audit disclosed that the Project’s accounts were properly maintained, with expenditure transactions supported by adequate documentation and incurred in accordance with the Grant Agreement’s objectives and GoJ guidelines. Notwithstanding, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), as the implementing Agency, was encouraged to address inadequacies in the management of its logical access controls to ensure compliance with the GoJ IT Security Policy and to strengthen network and application security to prevent exposure of NEPA’s financial information.

At December 31, 2022, NEPA had completed only 16 of 45 project activities and utilized US$1.1 million (36.67%) of the grant fund since the Project’s implementation in 2018. A further 5 activities had not been started, 9 were in progress, and 15 were discontinued. Due to implementation delays, the completion date was extended in three separate instances from its original end date of May 31, 2021 to September 30, 2024, and following a UNEP peer review, the Project was rescoped to 6 activities to ensure completion within the extended timeline.

The slow implementation was attributed to the resignation of the Project Officer, delays in filling that position and other key posts (impacting contract execution), and slippages of up to two years attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lengthy procurement process, and the 18 months taken to complete the UNEP peer review (3.2.62). The AG noted that these delays increased the risk of the Project not achieving its intended objectives within the agreed timeline, and increased the risk of losing grant funding, which would in turn place greater reliance on the Consolidated Fund to complete outstanding activities.

Permanent Secretary (current): Arlene Williams

Breach Category: Project Management

Permanent Secretary (at breach): Arlene Williams

Breach Type: Inadequate Project Monitoring

Status: Full Compliance

Last Assessed: July 7, 2026

Year Reported: 2024

Year Resolved:

Recommendation

The Auditor General department (AuGD) recommended that, considering the IWEco Project’s intrinsic alignment with Outcome #13 (Sustainable Management and Use of Environmental and Natural Resources) of the NDP Vision 2030 and UN SDG #15 (Life on Land), NEPA review the Project’s monitoring and evaluation system with the aim of implementing strategies to ensure agreed targets are completed within the stipulated timeframe and to mitigate the risk of losing grant funding.

Subsequent to the audit, the AuGD noted that the Project completed 4 of the 6 rescoped activities; NEPA advised that one activity could not be completed within the timeline available following disbursement of funds (August 2024), and the sixth activity audit of the Project’s second phase had not commenced, as the draft Financial Statements for the 2023 and 2024 Financial Years had not been received.

JAMP Update

NEPA responded to JAMP, advising that following the 2023 re-scoping of the IWEco Project, 5 of the 6 re-scoped activities were reported completed by the Project’s closure date of September 30, 2024:

Activity 1 (hydrological solutions to control water level and movement): 10% complete, then discontinued. A consultant was engaged through direct contracting and submitted a pricing proposal and schedule, but the duration of the consultancy would have exceeded the Project’s closure deadline, so it could not be pursued.
Activity 2 (interactive research and knowledge-sharing centre, Negril Royal Palm Reserve): Completed. Sub-contracted to the Urban Development Corporation, which delivered the schematic design concept proposal, order of cost estimate, and strategic brief outline.
Activity 3 (inter-agency and stakeholder engagement): Completed. Included a public awareness programme on wetland/biodiversity conservation, a Final Project Steering Committee Meeting (September 18, 2024), and a Wrap-Up Session recognising key stakeholders (September 26, 2024).
Activity 4 (sustainability of wetland biodiversity conservation measures): Completed. Included a 2-year MOU with the Water Resources Authority, installation of 4 hydromet stations (2 rain gauges and 2 stream flow gauges) in Logwood and March Town, Westmoreland, and procurement of a PM2.5 air quality monitoring instrument, with an agreement in place with the Negril and Green Island Area Local Planning Authority for its mounting.
Activity 5 (local community capacity-building): Completed. Citizen Science training for 17 community members (9 male, 8 female) in biomonitoring techniques was completed in August 2024, along with procurement of biomonitoring equipment (microscope, sorting trays, dissecting kits, kick net, waders, forceps, magnifying glass, and vials/bottles).
Activity 6 (Project Management): Completed. The Project’s final audit, conducted by the Auditor General’s Department, was in progress at the time of Project closure and has since been completed.

On strengthening project monitoring and implementation systems going forward, NEPA advised it has commenced an analysis of project processes associated with unachieved or partially achieved activities and general areas of weakness, to inform future project planning and implementation strategy.

On the financial statements for 2023 and 2024, NEPA advised these would have been submitted in satisfaction of the audit.

For more detail, see ATI response below.