St Ann Infirmary Gets a Helping Hand
Minister McKenzie leads clean up activities at the facility
Less than a month after Hon. Desmond McKenzie committed to leading a clean-up exercise at the St Ann Infirmary, the Minister and a team compromising staff of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), the Social Development Commission (SDC) and volunteers returned Saturday February 28 to carry out well-needed debris removal from the property.
“We are out of recovery…we are just doing some important clean up that needs to be done. The National Solid Waste Management Authority is here in full flight. We have crane trucks, we have saw heads, we have whackers, we have frontend loaders, we have power saws, and we have a full complement from the National Solid Waste Management Authority who have been our partner right across the island since we started this exercise” Minister McKenzie said.
He used the opportunity to speak on the importance of the data collection exercise undertaken by the SDC, in the post-Melissa reconstruction phase, at the local level.
“The Social Development Commission which is also a critical player in the Ministry is present this morning, not only to lend support, but for the role that they have been playing in helping us to compile data, information, that is allowing the government, in the [rebuilding] of Jamaica…to be able to make decisions based on data which is available” he explained.
Minister with responsibility for Water, Environment, Climate Change, and the Blue & Green Economies and member of parliament for Northeast St Ann, Hon. M
atthew Samuda, who was also present, expressed his gratitude to Minister McKenzie for his continued intervention in St Ann’s development.
“The measure of a society is how it treats it most vulnerable, so when Minister McKenzie has assessed that this is such a priority it tells you the spirit of the Ministry that he’s leading and I want to, on behalf of North East St Ann, and in deed the whole parish, because this facility serves more than just north east St Ann to extend sincere gratitude Minister for the support,” he said.
Minister Samuda also lauded the improvement of service delivery by local government facilities in the parish, highlighting the investments in the infirmary, markets, drains and cemeteries.
The day’s activities brought well-needed landscaping to the property, a storeroom that was severely damaged during the hurricane was also demolished, the Minister has committed to having it replaced with a prefabricated container.
Despite the extensive work carried out on the property, the Minister reaffirmed his commitment to relocating the St Ann Infirmary in the future, citing the proximity of the facility to the sea.
“We don’t want to do too much, because, this infirmary, once we have concluded all the arrangements, the proper location of the lands, the drawing and the designs, once we have gone through that process, this facility will be relocated on lands which are safe and which is close to the hospital so that proper care can be given to the residents in the infirmary,” he explained.
In the past, residents of the infirmary had to be evacuated from the property whenever the country is threatened by a natural disaster such as a Hurricane. To mitigate this, plans are in the pipeline to build a new infirmary close to a hospital in the parish and away from the coastline.