CHURCHES IN CLARENDON AND ST ANN TO BENEFIT FROM AN ADDITIONAL $50 MILLION UNDER THE COMMUNITY CHURCH CLEAN UP PROGRAMME
Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie announced that under the National Community Church Clean-up Programme another $50 million will be allocated to assist churches in Clarendon and St Ann with rehabilitative efforts following Hurricane Melissa.
He made the disclosure during the grant handover ceremony at the Calvary Baptist Church in St James on Wednesday morning (June 24) where 84 churches received their cut of the $75 million allocation that the government earmarked to assist churches that sustained damage during the passage of the hurricane.
“We are going to be turning our attention to the parishes on St Ann and Clarendon and we’re going to be providing $50 million to assist those churches in Clarendon and St Ann”
This, in a bid to support more churches that were impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
Meanwhile, churches in St James received some $16 million to offset some of the cost of repair increasing the number of beneficiaries to more than 300 churches so far.
The minister urged religious leaders to continue to be vanguards of hope despite the setback as many churches suffered minor and extensive loss.
He also used the opportunity to again reiterate the government’s position of providing monetary support to churches.
“In every parish there was a vestry, and that is where the seat of government use to take place…When you have family crisis, who do you turn to?… When [are] you getting married, where you want to do it? And when you want your last rights… if the church is there to do all the things that make us happy as a people, why is it that the government can’t do something one time to make the church happy?” he questioned.
“What we have done is to offer churches, a way to clean up, to remove the debris, if you want to put on a roof or repair a window that is what we have provided” he added.
For his part, Mayor of Montego Bay, Richard Vernon commended the Minister for his persistence in ensuring that the initiative came to fruition.
“ Today is very important day because the church plays more than a spiritual role in our life, the church is the secondary institution of socialization… when we have our challenges, we run to the church, and it within this context that I must commend our Minister, despite all odds, stood up, when persons challenged him about contributing to the recovery of churches and said that they must be assisted,” he said.
Collectively, close to 500 churches across five parishes (St Elizabeth, Hanover, Trelawny, St James and Westmoreland) have benefited from the $75 million allocation.