McKenzie reveals plans to build water shops, fix roads in Clarendon North Central
Published:Saturday | August 26, 2023 | 12:10 AMOlivia Brown/Gleaner Writer
Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie has pledged a series of infrastructural development across sections of North Central Clarendon.
McKenzie was speaking to journalists on Thursday following a tour of the Clarendon North Central constituency, which is represented by Member of Parliament Robert Morgan.
Atop the priority list is the construction of two water shops to ease the water woes in the Garden Wood and Beckford Kraal communities.
The Garden Wood facility will supply some 20,000 gallons. Residents in Beckford Kraal will benefit from a 16,000-gallon facility.
McKenzie said the tour underscored the harsh reality of the deprivation faced by several communities.
With no access to piped water, many residents are forced to pay big bucks weekly for the precious commodity.
Garden Wood resident Carmen Thomas lamented mounting costs to supply her home and cattle.
“We’re not saying water shops [are] the answers to the [water] crisis,” said the minister, who noted that the Government is trying to tap into various solutions to address the issue.
According to McKenzie, a “significant amount of money” had been spent to truck water across the constituency.
“A part of the commitment of the Government, knowing that Clarendon is one of those parishes that suffers, especially in the hills, we’re going to be providing allocations to the municipal corporation to purchase another water truck,” he said.
ROADS TO BE ADDRESSED
The rugged terrain that leads to the Pindar’s Valley Primary and Infant School in the Coxswain area bore testament to the challenges faced by residents in traversing the area. McKenzie assured them that the Government will also move to address the situation.
“We have driven on some roads today. We have some excellent roads, and we thank the member of parliament, but there are some roads that we drove on that are desperately in need of attention. The technical team is going to be working with the municipal corporation to attend to at least one of the roads we drove on today, especially that road that takes the community to the school. I think it’s critical, and we’re going to be paying attention to that,” he said.
McKenzie also announced the construction of homes for at least three indigent constituents.
Two elderly men, and a mother of seven got commitments that their living conditions would improve under the Indigent Housing Programme.
This initiative, spearheaded by each municipality’s Poor Relief Department, offers housing solutions to the registered poor.
McKenzie questioned why the needs of said constituents were never brought to the attention of the relevant authorities over the years.
“There are times you see cases and you wonder what had happened before, ... why people did not identify these people to give attention, [but] better late than never,” he said.