Ministries, state agencies being urged to go green

It was against this background that Cabinet has approved in principle a Green Government Policy, she said.

Ramdial was speaking at the Trinidad and Tobago Green Building Council (TTGBC) “Opportunities in Green Building” seminar at the Marriot Courtyard hotel, Port-of-Spain.

Ramdial explained that the policy was to be first piloted in her ministry and it focuses on the conservation of resources and the reduction of pollution, thereby reducing the adverse effects of operations of government ministries and agencies on the environment.

She said the adoption of clean and safe environmental practices at both the community and business levels is essential. She said ministries and State agencies have also been encouraged to support the conservation of the environment by complying with environmental regulations to reduce waste, prevent pollution and conserve water and energy resources.

She believes the only way green buildings will become the norm is if this is adopted by the construction industry as the way to build and go forward.

“To achieve this objective, we need to address the factors of cost in recognition of the fact that customers will not buy green unless it is cost effective,” she said.

Ramdial noted that until the market for green expands, the cost- saving advantages of economy of scale will not be fully realised and thus stakeholders need to find cost-saving methods and designs to make green construction more affordable.

President of the TTGBC, Roger Salloum, said the country was nowhere close to leading the pack when it comes to green buildings or meeting international standards of sustainable development. He said one way of achieving this was getting support from the public sector, the private sector, educational institutions and labour alike in order to make a difference in the attitudes towards greening in the country.