The community of Islington, St. Mary, is to be provided with a new basic school, to be funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund.
This early childhood institution will be constructed at a cost of $34 million, with both agencies providing $16 million each. The rest will be provided through community contribution.
The contract for the project was signed during a function held at the Friendship Baptist Church in Islington on September 28.
The new facility will replace the old Islington Basic School, which has been serving the community for 69 years, and has a student population of 80 and an academic staff of four.
Work is to begin in two weeks and the building should be completed in six months, according to JIS News.
construction projects
The project will include the construction of four new classrooms, kitchen, sickbay, principal's office, teachers' rest area, storeroom, sanitary facilities, an enclosed courtyard for a play area, a multi-purpose room and a gazebo that will serve the general assembly. There is also provision for furniture and equipment.
Addressing the function, Managing Director of JSIF, Scarlette Gillings, said the event was the embodiment of the commitment to education demonstrated by the Islington community and the funding agencies.
She said that providing for the early childhood education sector was one of the greatest responsibilities to be undertaken by the country. She assured that JSIF was fully committed to honouring that responsibility and meeting the challenge of providing world-class basic and primary school facilities for underserved communities across the country.
Mrs. Gillings said JSIF was happy to be partnering with the CHASE Fund to finance the project, and praised members of the Islington community for the effort they had made to bring it to fruition.
MONTPELIER, St James
A new basic school, constructed at a cost of more than $9.6 million, was officially opened on Thursday, September 28 in Montpelier, south Manchester.
The project, which involved the construction of a three-classroom building with sanitary facilities and a sickbay, was funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and Digicel Foundation. Alpart bauxite company donated the land and helped with the excavation works.
Some 25 students from Montpelier and the surrounding communities of Guava River and Pimento Hill are expected to benefit from the project.
YALLAHS, St Thomas
A number of community leaders in Yallahs, St. Thomas, were recently presented with cellular phones, as part of a wireless communication network being set up by Digicel in collaboration with the Yallahs Development Area Committee (YDAC).
National Sales Manager of Digicel, Michelle Watkis, presented the communication package at the YDAC's quarterly meeting held at the Eleven Miles Community Development Centre in Bull Bay. Some 20 communities are expected to benefit under the initiative.
Clement Battieste, field services manager at the Social Development Commission, explained that the network would enable the community leaders to report disasters as they occur, so that resources could be quickly deployed to bring relief to affected residents.
WALDERSTON, Manchester
Richard Azan, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Works, has presented 120 single-parent mothers with 6,000 chickens and 600 bags of feed to start their own businesses, in the constituency of North West Clarendon, which he represents in Parliament.
To date, 120 women have been presented with 50 chickens and five bags of feed each. This is to help them and their children, Mr. Azan said.
The State Minister said that on October 10, a training session will begin on waste management and how to run a business.
- Byron McDaniel
MORANT BAY, St Thomas
Friends of the Princess Margaret Hospital Florida Inc. recently donated much-needed medical supplies and furniture to the institution while on a visit to the island.
Among the gifts were an ECG machine supplied by Memorial Hospital of South Florida, air conditioners, donated by Scratch and Dent Appliances, and chairs by Wheelabrator, North Broward County, Florida. Items bought from fund-raising activities included a gumco suction machine, blood pressure machine, electrosurgical generator, and a defibrillator.
"We have been able to do a tremendous amount of work and we are now on the cutting edge of technology as a result of the equipment contributed to us," said Dr. Cecil Batchelor, the senior medical officer at the Princess Margaret Hospital in St. Thomas. He was speaking recently at the handover ceremony, held on the grounds of the hospital.
- Marlene McPherson
KINGSTON
An 18-year-old man was shot and killed by gunmen in Olympic Gardens, Kingston 11, on Thursday.
Dead is Craig Gregory, conductor of Rhoden Crescent, Kingston 11.
Reports from the CCN's metro officer are that about 5:00 p.m., Gregory was working on a bus plying the downtown Kingston to Waterhouse route, when a dispute developed between him and a female passenger. On reaching the intersection of Tower Avenue and Olympic Way, the woman got off the bus.
While the bus was still at that location, she returned with two men. The men pulled Gregory off the bus and took him to an open lot nearby. Shortly afterwards explosions were heard. It was subsequently discovered that Gregory had been shot. The police were alerted and the injured Gregory was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he died while undergoing treatment.
The St. Andrew South Homicide Unit is investigating.
And a man died from injuries sustained in a freak accident at Kingston Wharves Thursday.
Dead is 21-year-old Gui Roy, sideman of Georges Lane, Kingston.
Reports from the CCN's metro officer are that about 9:30 a.m., Mr. Roy was removing a container from an International truck when a bolt he was holding slipped from its slot. He subsequently lost his balance and hit his head against a section of the chassis. He was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he died while undergoing treatment.