jamarchA multi agency group headed by the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) of the Ministry of National Security is getting ready to implement a major gully cleaning and maintenance programme involving hundreds of residents from two inner city communities in Montego Bay, St. James.
Details of the Health and Sanitation Project, which will employ 240 residents of Canterbury and North Gully were disclosed at a Town Hall meeting at Montego Bay’s Civic Centre, on Thursday, November 19th. Over 300 residents of North Gully and Canterbury in Montego Bay, St. James were out in their numbers to participate.
CSJP Community Action Officer, Danielle Fletcher, who is assigned to the Canterbury and North Gully communities, said under the project, the residents will be employed to clean and maintain a community gully which serves Salt Spring, Glendevon, Canterbury and North Gully, on a three month basis. The clean up exercise is aimed at removing all domestic waste and debris which pose a threat to the environment and their health, and is the cause of flooding when it rains, she noted.
Other components of the programme include : re-socializing and re-educating communities through health and sanitation workshops; developing a maintenance committee in each community to give oversight of the project and placing garbage receptacles in strategic locations in each community.
Miss Fletcher encouraged residents to cooperate as their communities stand to benefit through improvement to their community image; reduction in improper solid waste disposal practices; improved sanitary living conditions and increase in community morale.
CSJP is partnering with the National Works Agency, Urban Development Corporation, Montego Bay Marine Park, the St. James Health Department, Western Parks & Markets and the Social Development Commission to assist in combating the problem. Miss Fletcher emphasized that “one organization cannot effectively solve the issue.”
Presentations were also made by Barbara Williams-Reid of the St. James Health Department, Javed Miller of the Montego Bay Marine Park, Ivet McLean of the SDC and Janel Ricketts of the NWA. These presenters underscored the need for proper disposal of domestic and human waste in these communities as the drain serves the city of Montego Bay and by extension, can impact the city’s coastline.
CSJP, a crime prevention initiative of the Ministry of National Security is funded jointly by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB). The chief objectives are to prevent and reduce crime and violence; strengthen crime management capabilities and improve delivery of judicial services.
Media Writer
