By Robert Lalah, Staff Reporter 
Kingsley Thomas accepting the Gleaner Honour Award in the public service category from Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke on Tuesday. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
KNOWN FOR his work in fighting for better living conditions for the residents of Jamaica's inner-city communities, Kingsley Thomas, head of the Development Bank of Jamaica and chairman of the National Housing Trust (NHT), has called for
business leaders to do more to
provide inner-city residents with opportunities to uplift themselves.
He made the call at the Gleaner Company's Honour Awards ceremony on Tuesday at the Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, where he was named the 'Man of the Year, 2004.' Mr. Thomas noted that
for its part, the NHT's inner-city housing project is right on track.
"Ninety-eight units, now being built in Denham Town, are expected to be handed over to their new owners by April 2005. Half of the 252 units at Trench Town have already been built. The others will be completed and ready for handover by July 2005," he said, adding that another 186 units at Spanish Town Road should be ready for handover by September 2005.
Mr. Thomas noted that a large part of the success of this project will rest in the residents' ability to obtain jobs, so that they are able to pay their mortgages and maintain their new homes. This, he said, is where the cooperation of the business leaders is crucial.
"I am appealing to businesses, particularly in Kingston and St. Andrew, to assist in the development of our inner-city districts by providing jobs for these residents. Do not turn them away from your offices, give them a real fighting chance to step up inna life," said Mr. Thomas with characteristic candour.
BENEFITED
He added that hundreds of residents have benefited in the past year from various NHT facilitated training and certification programmes, and today the communities which the participants of these programmes are from represent a rich pool of skills which the businesses should seek to make use of. Mr. Thomas expounded on the importance of giving people opportunities to elevate themselves, as he addressed his fellow Gleaner Honour Award recipients.
