$70m for Sav, Parade Gardens ZOSOs
Published:Tuesday | April 23, 2024 | 12:11 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Residents of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, and Parade Gardens, Kingston, where zones of special operations (ZOSOs) are now in effect, are set to benefit from an additional investment of $70.1 million.
This investment forms part of the Government’s community development project and the planned interventions in these zones after they were established more than two years ago.
On the advice of the security forces, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared a ZOSO in Parade Gardens on January 9, 2022, and another in the southern section of Savanna-la-Mar seven days later.
The police and residents have reported that the lives of those residing in these areas have been significantly transformed compared to just over two years ago, when they lived in fear of death on a daily basis.
In Savanna-la-Mar, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) will be spending $40.4 million for the fiscal year 2024-2025. At the same time, $30 million is to be spent in the Parade Gardens zone.
“We will be spending $15 million on designing the infrastructure to include rehabilitation of roads, drainage, and water systems within the spaces of the zone,” Omar Sweeney, deputy chairman of the Social Intervention Committee of the Zones of Special Operations, said of the Savanna-la-Mar ZOSO.
“Parade Gardens will see an investment of approximately $4 million, covering design and infrastructure works, including the rehabilitation of three kilometres of roadway, sewerage, water and drainage improvements,” he said, pointing out that the major spends in the two ZOSOs will commence this year and move in earnest in 2025 and 2026.
Sweeney told The Gleaner that the Government, through JSIF, will be ensuring that the children in these communities can access their education in comfort at an early stage by rehabilitating the Race Course Basic School in Savanna-la-Mar and the Holy Family Primary School in Parade Gardens at a cost of $13.6 million.
NEED FOR RECREATIONAL SPACE
Along with the importance of education, there is a need to have a space for the residents to socialise through sports.
“The Government is investing $6 million towards the rehabilitation of the multipurpose court on Cooke Street,” revealed Sweeney as he outlines the expenditure covering the financial investment being made to transform the section of the Westmoreland capital.
He said this sporting infrastructure project will include the implementation of works for the seating and fencing and the multipurpose court will be asphalted and marked.
While these infrastructural works are being carried out, Sweeney, who is the JSIF managing director, says residents in these zones will also benefit from an investment of $18 million, which will be shared among some 110 microenterprises towards enhancing their businesses.
“Enterprise development project grants will be provided to microenterprises, which will include the provision of equipment and supplies, business development training, and business registration,” he noted.
Under a solid waste transformation project, some 80 environmental wardens from these communities will be trained and provided with jobs to clean up and maintain their communities under an arrangement with several government agencies.
“This project, which is being funded at a cost of $5 million, will be facilitated by the National Solid Waste Management Authority, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, the Ministry of Health & Wellness, and the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation,” he said.
Additionally, he said, $5 million has been set aside in each zone for academic support, with Savanna-la-Mar also aiming to provide approximately 1,000 birth certificates for residents under Operation Certification.
There will also be a capacity-building initiative to benefit over 40 individuals in collaboration with the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Social Development Commission, and the Department of Cooperative and Friendly Societies.