Medical Officer of Health and initiator of the project, Dr. Pauline Weir (left with shovel) joins Minister of Health John Junor, in the symbolic gesture of breaking new ground for the St. Thomas Health Department building. The construction is funded jointly by the Netherlands Embassy and the Government of Jamaica through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) at a cost of $15 million. The Health Department, which serves 17 health centres in the parish, is scheduled to be completed by year-end.
FINANCE MINISTER and Member of Parliament for South St. Andrew, Omar Davies, has unveiled a $55 million plan for his South St. Andrew constituency.
Dubbed 'Area of Excellence', the plan focuses on two areas of strength in the constituency its rich cultural heritage, particularly in music; and excellence in sports, Minister Davies said at Wednesday night's unveiling. He added that the new development would build on existing achievements in the community.
Excellence Park, one of two main areas selected for development, will feature a covered bandstand, ten vending stalls with benches, 55 permanent and 90 temporary parking spaces, changing and storage rooms and restrooms. Landscaping will extend beyond the boundaries of the park along Collie Smith Drive. The vending stalls will be operated by community members and would be a source of income generation.
The park will also include footbridges over a gully into the nearby Tony Spaulding Sports Complex and parking for the Complex. Total cost for this component will be approximately $14 million.
The second primary prong of the development is an athletic training centre which will house a boxing gym, locker rooms, bathrooms, a multi-purpose room to be used for weight training and community events, two netball and two basketball courts at a total cost of approximately $21 million.
In an audio-visual presentation to an audience which included diplomats, business leaders, fellow ministers and members of the constituency as well as potential sponsors, Dr. Davies outlined work already accomplished in the constituency as well as his vision for the Area of Excellence, the latter aided by architectural plans and an artist's rendering of the finished project.
He highlighted a $40 million sanitation project funded by the European Union which rehabilitated sewerage systems, and improved water supply to the constituency; the upgrading of equipment and furniture in several schools and on-going work to bring about behavioural change in the constituency.
In inviting sponsorship in cash, kind and management skills, Dr. Davies said there were several allied projects which were scheduled to come on stream shortly and for which funding was either secured or well advanced. One was a park at a cost of $3.5 million and additional stand for the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex. This, he said, would cost $15 million but cement and steel for the project had been secured.
Dr. Davies told his audience that his focus on sports stemmed from the belief that the discipline necessary in sports would stand individuals and the community well in other aspects of their daily life.
