Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller addresses yesterday's commissioning of the Seven Rivers Irrigation System in Cambridge, St James. (Photo: Paul Reid)

CAMBRIDGE, St James - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller yesterday took a good-natured swipe at persons speculating that she may be involved in numerology because of her play with the number 7, as she commissioned a new irrigation system at Seven Rivers in Cambridge, St James.

".The fact that the first official duty that I am performing after flying the gate is at Seven Rivers, I hope others do not have a problem with Seven Rivers," Simpson Miller said at the commissioning ceremony for the new irrigation system.

"I cannot deny the fact that I am the seventh prime minister of Jamaica; that Jamaica has seven letters, and that we have seven national heroes and here am I at this historical site, Seven Rivers," said the prime minister to much laughter.
Simpson Miller has come under heavy criticism for her apparent fixation with the number 7.

At Sunday's mass rally in Half-Way-Tree where she announced that the dates for nomination and election days would be August 7 and 27, respectively, Simpson Miller made much of the fact that she was the country's 7th prime minister and that Jamaica had 7 national heroes.

The Seven Rivers irrigation system, built at a cost of US$400,000, was the second of three 'flagship projects' to be put into use by the National Irrigation Commission.

The project was made possible through a partnership between the Caribbean Development Bank and the Jamaican Government.

Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke, who also spoke at the function, described the event as 'historic' with two irrigation systems being commissioned in two weeks.

The Pedro Plains system was commissioned recently with the third, a rehabilitated plant in Houslow, to be put back into service in September this year.

"The commissioning of the Seven Rivers irrigation system marks another milestone for agriculture in Jamaica, today we are equipping you farmers with the tools necessary to help them to increase production," said Clarke.

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