Jamaica Information Service
Friday, January 23, 2015
Over 80,000 residents in 18 communities spanning six parishes will benefit from a US$42 million project, which will see significant improvements in basic infrastructure and social services over the next six years.
The Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP) is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), through a loan from the World Bank.
It was officially launched in the South West St. Andrew communities of Majesty Gardens and Greenwich Town/Newport West on January 21 by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller.
Mrs. Simpson Miller, who is also Member of Parliament for the area, commended the JSIF for the programme’s implementation, noting that she is particularly pleased about its education component.
“I’m working to transform lives and education is one way of transforming lives, one community at a time and one family at a time,” she said. “I believe it is critical that we place a significant focus on education in this constituency,” the Prime Minister said.
Mrs. Simpson Miller said the Government continues to place significant focus on community development. “If we want to have a safe and peaceful Jamaica, then we must work with our communities to ensure their development,” she noted.
Greenwich Farm and Newport are the first communities in which the project is being launched. The ICDP will provide a range of social service interventions, including after-school education and recreation projects, and minor rehabilitation to school infrastructure.
It is being implemented across the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, St. Ann, St. James, and Westmoreland and will also provide mentorship, employment and skill training opportunities for youth through partnership with the HEART/Trust NTA.
Managing Director of the JSIF, Scarlette Gillings, informed that a major leg of the programme will involve road rehabilitation; the removal of zinc fences; improvement of storm water drainage; and the installation of water supply and sanitation household connections.
She noted that the ICDP will also see the creation of recreational spaces and community parks as well as a partnership with the National Solid Waste and Management Authority to clean up and beautify the local environment.
Under the programme, environmental wardens will be trained and employed to assist in the clean up process. It will also include programmes to reduce violence, such as mediation and counselling services and trauma response; the training of community mediators; and the creation of mobile mediation posts in addition to violence prevention programmes in schools.
Some of the major partners include the Ministries of National Security, Health and Education as well as the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), NSWMA, HEART/Trust NTA and the Social Development Commission (SDC).
