THE old Goodyear tyre factory in White Horses, St Thomas is to be converted into a call centre operation, through funding from the charity group Upliftment Jamaica. "They intend to establish a call centre facility and over time, hundreds of residents of the parish will be employed here after being trained," said Phillip Paulwell, the commerce, science and technology minister.

He was speaking to JIS News following Upliftment Jamaica's annual award's gala, held on Saturday at the old tyre factory.
Paulwell added that over the past six years, Upliftment Jamaica had injected a lot of resources in the parish and the conversion of the Goodyear facility into a training centre, was just another step in the organisation's overall effort to empower young people and develop that eastern parish.

"We had established the facility some time ago on the basis of a vision that we can use information communication technology to transform Jamaica, and this is going to demonstrate how we can transform an industry that was based on cheap labour to one that is now based on more value, more training and more human resources content," said the minister.

Goodyear closed its Jamaican manufacturing plant in 1996, claiming that the lack of competitiveness was impacting on its operations. The company now imports tyres for the local market.

Upliftment Jamaica is a non-profit organisation headed by Gary Foster, a St Thomas native now residing in the United States, and is dedicated to providing opportunities to empower young people to change their lives and to transform the country.

Saturday's function saw over 24 awards being handed out to representatives of the local and international entertainment fraternity, as well as corporate executives, for their support to the organisation.

The keynote address at the function was delivered by American civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton, who called on civil society to support the activities of Upliftment Jamaica.

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