Rural Development Programme advances in Chambers Pen, Hanover

Posted on February 28, 2023

The multi-faceted Rural Development Programme (RDP) is progressing in the community of Chambers Pen, Western Hanover.

The RDP is spearheaded by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

“The work is about 30 percent complete – the (Chambers Pen All Age) school, the electrical wiring, the distribution of the water tanks, we have already put in the water distribution lines. There are some more connections to be made, with the roads and other things that are going to come,” explained Portfolio Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie.

“Once that gets started it will get us, hopefully by the middle of the year, to about 80 per cent complete.

Chambers Pen is the RDP pilot project where resources of more than J$223 million are being spent to improve the social and physical conditions of the community.

A partnership between the local government and education ministries saw the principal’s cottage and the cafeteria at the all-age school renovated at a cost of J$30m. Computer tablets are to be distributed to students, and the school ground is also slated for repairs at a later date.

The next phase of work will involve the community park and the community centre.

Minister McKenzie said he was ecstatic about the advancements on the ground.

“I am feeling very good about the progress of the work between the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, that has come in and have completed their work. The Jamaica Public Service is to come to put in streetlights in certain selected areas, Rural Water Supply Limited has been working, the Social Development Commission has been on the ground…now the real construction will start, which includes repairs to the bridges, the putting in of the curb walls, sidewalks, and rehabilitation of the roads.”

The RDP was announced by the Government in 2021 and a total of four communities islandwide are to benefit from the initiative in the first phase of the programme.

The Minister visited Chambers Pen on February 16 and participated in several activities including a tour of the Chambers Pen All Age School; the commissioning of the Chambers Pen Water Supply System and a contract signing for road rehabilitation as well as the handover of an indigent housing solution.

“Ladies and gentlemen, all of this investment will mean nothing if the community doesn’t embrace and take care of this investment. This is your tax dollar working for you… I urge you to take care of the investment,” he said during the ceremony to commission the water system.

Rural Water Supply Limited’s Managing Director, Mr. Audley Thompson, says the entity spent J$49m on the system that will be connected to that of the National Water Commission (NWC). Households will also be provided with 400-gallon black water tanks for standby supply. To date, 300 tanks have been distributed.

Chambers Pen is a farming community located approximately nine kilometres east of Lucea, with an estimated population of 1,100 residents. The adjoining communities include Dundee Pen, Eaton, Harvey River, and McLaren Gate.

St. James Infirmary gets new J$45m male ward

Posted on February 27, 2023February 27, 2023

The St. James Infirmary now boasts a new male ward built at a cost of J$45 million through a joint venture between the National Housing Trust and the St. James Municipal Corporation.

The new addition, which will house 40 residents, was officially opened by Honourable Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development during a special ceremony at the facility on February 15.

The Minister shared that the Government has spent more than J$1 billion to date improving facilities for the country’s most vulnerable citizens through its infirmaries and homeless shelters.

“Improving the conditions of the less fortunate must become a priority of the Government, [and] all infirmaries in Jamaica, under this Administration, have received significant benefits.”

He commended the technical team who directed the ward’s construction and described the design as “really wonderful”.

Minister McKenzie posited that the focus will now shift to the construction of a new kitchen and dining hall at the St. James Infirmary.

The Ministry also provided a tranche of J$11m to outfit the new ward with furniture including beds and other items such as appliances, medical equipment, stand aids, and appliances. The new ward is also equipped with a dormitory; a doctor’s office, physiotherapy room, shower room, and bathroom.

Last November, a therapeutic park was commissioned at the Infirmary located in Albion, Montego Bay. The park boasts recreational spaces, a mural and a water fountain.

Mayor of Montego Bay and Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation, Councillor Leeroy Williams, said the construction of the new ward reflected the Infirmary’s growth through improved operations and service delivery.

“In the near future, we will see the construction of a new female ward, and as we continue to grow, we will not leave the vulnerable behind. This modern facility will be a beacon of hope and will boast the spirits of residents and their families, while also improving the work and morale of the caregivers,” he noted.

Bill piloted to postpone Local Government Elections -Polls on hold until February 2024

Posted on February 23, 2023

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie on Tuesday piloted a Bill in the Houses of Representatives effectively postponing Local Government Elections until February 2024.

The Bill entitled Representation of the People (Postponement of Elections to Municipal Corporations and City Municipalities) Act, 2023. Last February, the House passed an amendment Act to temporarily modify the Representation of the People Act to push back the polls until February 28, 2023.

Minister McKenzie told his colleague Parliamentarians that Jamaica’s delicate post-Covid 19 recovery is foremost for the Government.

“We are in a better position than last year but we are not out of the woods yet. On the economic front, The Government is sharply focused on two main things. One, building of national resilience against further economic shocks whether caused by man-made or natural factors,” he explained.

“Two, the expansion and sustenance of economic growth that all our citizens can feel and see at a personal level.”

He underscored that holding the polls at this time risks diverting the country from these two vital tasks. The Minister also noted that the postponement will facilitate the conclusion of public consultation concerning draft legislation that will establish Portmore as Jamaica’s 15^th parish.

“The legislation will among other things set Portmore’s parish boundaries, and will therefore be inseparable from the process of holding the next Local Government Elections. It means that for the first time since the practice of Universal Adult Suffrage in Jamaica, the residents of fifteen parishes will elect their local government representatives. We look forward to the historic experience of inviting the people of the parish of Portmore to go to the polls.”

Minister McKenzie maintained that the decision to seek this postponement was not hasty.

He added: “The Government of Jamaica cherishes its democratic credentials, and will do nothing to undermine the primary expression of a democratic society – the right to vote. As the Minister responsible for Local Government, I wish to assure the House and the country that we are still committed to having the next Local Government Elections, in the shortest practicable time”.

 

Water Shop opened in Mile Gully, Manchester

Posted on February 20, 2023February 20, 2023

MILE GULLY, Manchester:  A J$14 million water shop, storing 16,000 gallons of the commodity, has been officially opened to serve residents of Mile Gully and its environs in Manchester.

 The facility, which is a project under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, will be operated by the Manchester Municipal Corporation.

“The Government has been working to improve the water supply systems across the country, not just by means of putting in water shops, but to make communities accessible to the service provided by the National Water Commission,” Portfolio Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie said during the handover ceremony on February 10.

“We can’t just snap our fingers and the problems are solved overnight, but every step that we take is a step in the right direction.”

He also appealed to the residents to take care of the water shop and not to allow it to be used for commercial purposes.

“… They use it to establish car wash. They use it for farming and the one that is more disgusting than anything else is that they drive up and they load drums of water and go and sell it to people,” he said.

“This is not something that we are going to tolerate. In one particular parish, we have already caught two of the culprits red-handed.”

Minister McKenzie also visited the site of a water shop under construction in Somerset, Manchester. Three other water shops are operating in the parish, and the Rural Water Supply Limited will undertake a J$12m renovation project of the water facility in Plowden district.

Member of Parliament for North West Manchester, Mr. Mikael Phillips, lauded the Minister for his assistance in supplying water to the constituency. He said these efforts will make a significant impact in addressing the chronic water shortage in the constituency where only 30 percent of residents have potable water.

 “This water shop is important to the surrounding communities that will greatly benefit from it. North West has quite a bit of parish tanks and what we have been doing through the councillors and myself is that we have been using the CDF (Community Development Fund) and installing 2000-gallons water tanks at various points across the constituency,” the MP shared.

“If there is anything else that we ask, is that the Ministry helps us in putting in more of these wayside tanks that I will match with my CDF with the delivery of water.”

Minister McKenzie also disclosed that budgetary allocation has been made for four additional water shops to be built in Manchester during the 2023/2024 financial year.

MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS MURDER OF HOMELESS MAN IN PORT MARIA, ST. MARY

Posted on February 7, 2023

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Hon. Desmond McKenzie has strongly denounced the murder of Mr. O’Neil Collin, a homeless man whose body was found with the throat slashed in Port Maria, St. Mary yesterday (Sunday).

“What we know so far is that Mr. Collin’s body was found yesterday morning, near the Port Maria Police Station. He was well known to the St. Mary Poor Relief Department, and was a regular user of the Drop-In Centre in the parish. Indeed, staff members of the Poor Relief  Department were on a routine assignment to feed homeless persons when they encountered the tragic scene, which the police had started to process.

“O’Neil Collin was known as a quiet, unassuming man who largely kept to himself and had no known conflict with anyone. It is beyond baffling as to why anyone would want to hurt him, much more to destroy him in this heinous way. This is a terrible act, and I await the conclusion of the investigations by the Port Maria Police. I am also concerned about reports that another homeless person was beaten and is now in hospital, though thankfully his injuries are not considered life-threatening.

“Our homeless men and women are citizens of Jamaica, and their lives are no less valuable than our people who enjoy a better standard of living. I urge anyone who may have witnessed what happened to provide the police with any available facts. No civilized society can allow acts such as these to go by the wayside.

“While we do not yet know the circumstances of Mr. Collin’s death, I want to urge our homeless population to use the Night Shelters regularly not only for food and hygiene, but also for security. Almost all the attacks on our homeless citizens have taken place during the hours of darkness. We continue, through the Local Authorities, to appeal directly to them to make even greater use of the infrastructure and services that these facilities provide.”

Late St. Ann firefighter to be honoured – Ocho Rios Fire Station to be renamed in his memory

Posted on February 3, 2023

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development will take steps to rename the Ocho Rios Fire Station in St. Ann to preserve the memory of the firefighter who lost his life on December 1 last year.

The station will be formally changed to the Ocho Rios Fire Lorenzo Garnet Douse Memorial Building in memory of the late firefighter, who was based at that location at the time of his death.

“Brothers and sisters, we are not just going to mourn Lorenzo’s passing. We are going to preserve his memory,” announced Portfolio Minister, Honourable Desmond McKenzie during the funeral service for the 25-year-old firefighter at Moneague College in St. Ann on January 28.

Firefighter Douse met an untimely demise while on duty on November 30, 2022, when he was struck by a motor vehicle that overtook a line of traffic and slammed into the back of a fire truck parked in the vicinity of the Reynolds Pier in Ocho Rios.

The Minister said too that the Ministry will also establish a scholarship in the young firefighter’s honour.

“I want to also announce the Lorenzo Garnet Douse Scholarship Fund that will be established to assist young firefighters, aged 18 to 25, to advance in their training,” he explained.

“This is our [Government] contribution to the preservation of his name. I know that his family and friends will always keep him alive in their hearts and in their memories.”

Minister McKenzie also used the somber occasion to remind motorists to exercise greater discipline on the roadways.

He indicated that the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) has responded to over a 1,000 motor vehicle crashes across the island, pointing out that the level of indiscipline on the roads continues to be a major concern.

“Let us use the death of [this] young man to say to ourselves… ‘life is precious’. This is a man who could have gone on to be the next Commissioner of the JFB. But now, we will never know [because of] one person behind the steering wheel of a motorcar that tried to defy the odds and robbed a young child of a father, [and] robbed the JFB of a young man whose future no one [can] now determine.”

For his part, JFB Commissioner, Stewart Beckford, acknowledged the tremendous support received, following the passing of Firefighter Douse.

He said the condolences and unwavering support continue to pour in from across the island, as the nation mourns with the Brigade.

Added Commissioner Beckford: “Your intervention was timely and has proven useful in helping us through this most difficult period”.