JICA Project “J-PRISM3” held its 2nd Joint Coordinating Committee meeting in Honiara
On 1 April 2025, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project “Japanese Technical Cooperation Project for Promotion of Regional Initiative on Solid Waste Management in Pacific Island Countries Phase 3” (J-PRISM3) implemented since July 2023 held its second Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) meeting in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Mr. Josef Hurutarau, Director of Environment and Conservation Division (ECD), Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM), Ms. Debra Kereseka, Deputy Director Environment of ECD, MECDM and its officers, Mr. Justus Denni, City Clerk of Honiara City Council (HCC) and its officers, officers of Gizo Town Council (GTC) and Auki Town Council (ATC), a member of Solomon Islands Recycling and Waste Management Association (SIRWMA), officials of JICA Solomon Islands Office, and some of J-PRISM3 Expert Team attended on site and others attended online.
J-PRISM3 activities in Solomon Islands aim to achieve the following outputs:
Output 1: Improvement of data management system for solid waste management (SWM)
Output 2: Strengthening the supporting mechanism to town councils by MECDM and HCC, and Utilization of monitoring result of SWM to SWM budget plan
Output 3: Action planning for 3R+Return
Output 4 (Regional): The knowledge and experiences in the region are shared
The progress and achievements of the project so far include:
- Discussion on the target data, requirements, and expectations that MECDM will use in the data management system
- Confirmation of the current status of HCC waste collection and final disposal operations.
- Kick off meeting with 3 target Town Councils (GTC, ATC, Tulagi Town Council) to discuss their SWM planning
- Consultation with other donors for the ongoing projects
- Participation in the SIRWMA's annual meeting and discussion on collaboration with J-PRISM3 and facilitating the SIRWMA's activities.
- Regional Workshop on “Sustainable Landfill System” was held on 10-14 February 2025 in Samoa. Two counterparts from Solomon Islands participated and learned together with other participants from nine pacific countries. The group actively participated by visiting two landfills, sharing the information, knowledge and experiences of their countries, discussing the common issues to tackle and formulating new networks.
During the meeting, the participants confirmed the progress of the project by sharing updated information and agreed on the implementation schedule. The proposals to organize a national training on SWM and involve a local expert to assist with the data management system were brought up to push forward the project.
Furthermore, all the attendees reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening relationships, collaborating to enhance waste management in Solomon Islands, and sharing experiences and lessons learned with other countries in the Pacific region.
Opening remarks by Mr. Hurutarau, Director of ECD
Opening remarks by Mr. Denni, City Clerk of HCC
Participants of 2nd JCC meeting