Work starts on St Thomas informatics complex

MORANT BAY, St Thomas — Technology minister, Phillip Paulwell has said the first phase of work on the informatics complex in St Thomas should be completed by June.

“We anticipate that by the end of May to early June, the first phase of 2,727 square metres will be ready. Already we have been promoting it and there are interested investors,” Paulwell told the Jamaica Information Service after a recent tour of the facility.

The government will be spending $153 million to refurbish and convert the former Goodyear tyre manufacturing plant in Morant Bay into an information technology centre.

Work is being undertaken by Exterior III Construction Limited, a Kingston-based civil engineering and construction company. The Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) will manage the complex.

Clean-up on in Port Antonio

PORT ANTONIO, Portland — The Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo) said it is spearheading a clean-up drive in Port Antonio to improve the town’s appearance and enhance its attractiveness.

The drive is being carried out with the assistance of the Portland Parish Council and North Eastern Parks and Markets.

Director of projects at TPDCo, Sandy Chung, said the project, which would cost $2 million, involved the collection of debris from beaches as well as the cleaning of drains and the painting of curb walls.

19 year-old student is Trelawny farm queen

HAGUE, Trelawny — Nineteen year-old Sherica Smith of Wakefield in Trelawny has been crowned Miss Trelawny Farm Queen 2002.

Smith, who wore the sash ‘Miss Silver Sands’, gracefully accepted the crown from last year’s farm queen, Heidi-Ann Butler, at the crowning ceremony held at the 46th staging of the Hague Agricultural Show, in Hague Trelawny, last Wednesday.

The young farm queen in second year student at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), in Portland, pursuing an Associate of Science Degree in general agriculture.

Second and third place runners-up were Tanesha Campbell and Gabrielle Gangadhar, respectively, also students at CASE.

Smith, also won sectional prizes for best personality and most agriculturally aware.