New basic school for Cousin’s Cove

COUSIN’S COVE, Hanover — Representatives from the Union of Jamaica Alumni Associations (UJAA) in New York will travel to the island this week for the official opening of the Cousin’s Cove Basic School and Community Centre in Hanover.

The mulit-purpose complex was built with support from the UJAA and its benefactors in the United States.

It was started as a joint project with the Government of Jamaica, through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture with support from member of parliament for Western Hanover, Ben Clare.

The UJAA is the umbrella organisation for the various Jamaica past students’ associations operating in the Tri-State area.

President Barbara Richards told JIS News that the organisation donated US$70,000 for the construction of the facility, which will accommodate 120 students. The project will also benefit the larger Cousin’s Cove district as provisions were made for its use as a community centre in the evenings.

The complex will be officially opened on Wednesday. Guest speaker will be former Consul General to New York, Ambassador Derrick Heaven under whose stewardship UJAA was formed in 1990.

Richards said the school would be dedicated in honour of the late Kay Baxter, who had succeeded Ambassador Heaven as Consul General to New York.

The UJAA has, in the meantime, pledged to provide the school with additional material such as kitchen appliances and utensils. The Ministry of Education has supplied all the furniture.

Disruption in Porus/Christiana water supply

PORUS, Manchester — The National Water Commission (NWC) said yesterday that customers served by the Porus/Moravia water supply systems say that the inclement weather has affected their regular water supply.

The Porus pumping station was flooded during the recent downpour, resulting in electrical problems at that plant, the commission said. The Moravia system has also been affected by the rains, resulting in two pumps being taken out of service for urgent repairs.

Operations, the NWC said yesterday, were restored at the Porus plant, and there would not be full service until later today. Until then, it said, water will be trucked to affected communities served by the Moravia, Victoria Town and Porus water supply systems, which include: Porus, Kendal, Inglesdide, Williamsfield, Royal Flat and New Green.

… Clarendon systems too

FRANKFIELD, Clarendon — National Water Commission (NWC) customers served by the Frankfield, Belle Plain and Kellits water supply systems in Clarendon have had disruption in their service because of the heavy rains over the past days.

The commission said the pipeline serving the Frankfield system was washed out during recent flooding, resulting in disruption to Frankfield and surrounding communities. It added that the Belle Plain pumping station is experiencing electrical problems due to interruptions in the power supply, while high turbidity has resulted in the Kellits plant being taken out of service. And landslides, mud and debris, ads well as flooded roadways have also affecting the ability of water trucks to access certain communities experiencing disruption in supply.

Residents renovate Sturge Town All-Age School

STURGE TOWN, St Ann — Community members recently came together to renovate the Sturge Town All-Age School in St Ann at a cost of over $300,000.

The workday was organised by about 130 residents who volunteered their services to complete extension of the administrative office.

Other activities included the bushing of the school compound, paving of a section of the schoolyard, weeding of the school garden and the planting of crops.

Principal, Bradsha Gaynor, said he was overwhelmed at the turn-out and the amount of work achieved.

He said members of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) “collected money from fund-raising efforts, friends of the school as well as past students, and the workmen gave their time free of cost”.

Several students, including Tamari Miller and Cordel Lawrence, told JIS News that they were pleased at the effort of the residents, which had helped to provide a more comfortable learning environment.

Fay Campbell, a teacher at the school, said she was proud of the work done by the community members, and for being a part of the teaching team. “We want to make Sturge Town All-Age the best in the island,” she said.

Community member, Kingsley Campbell, who mixed concrete to pave the schoolyard, said he was pleased to assist “because I have a daughter who is attending the school”.

Another resident, Norma Blake-James, who has two children attending the institution, said she was also delighted to be able to give the school a new look, which would benefit the children.

Lunch for the workday was sponsored by Square One Restaurant in St Ann’s Bay and Beaches Grande Sport in Ocho Rios. Member of parliament for the area, Minister of Local Government and Community Development Arnold Bertram, and Triple Super Save in Brown’s Town, provided material, including cement and marl.

Font Hill PRIDE beneficiaries get certificates of possession

FONT HILL, St Elizabeth — One hundred and sixty-five farmers in the communities of Crawford and Fustic Grove, in Font Hill, southwest St Elizabeth, are to benefit from the development of the Font Hill Operation PRIDE project.

The venture has been undertaken on 300 acres of land, formerly owned by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), and has seen 165 lots with an average size of 1.7 acres per unit, being developed. These include: 82 lots at Fustic Grove and 83 at Crawford, both of which are adjacent to each other. Surveying of the lands was done by the PCJ. Approximately $7.2 million has been spent to date to provide scribed and marled roads as well as water for agricultural purposes. This figure also includes beneficiaries’ contributions of $3.2 million.

One hundred and twenty-seven beneficiaries, who met the financial and legal pre-requisites of selection, received their certificates of possession, their interim instruments of legal tenure until their titles are prepared, during a handing over ceremony at the Crawford Primary School last Friday. Of this number, 24 made full cash payments.

Speaking at the ceremony, Milverton Wallace, the managing director of the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC), which spearheads the Operation PRIDE projects, said the Font Hill development was the first to receive sales agreements under Operation PRIDE and described it as a fitting example of public co-ordination and networking between Operation PRIDE and the PCJ.

US Embassy closes today

The American Embassy in Kingston will be closed today, for the US Memorial Day holiday, and reopens on Tuesday, May 28. The Consular Section, INS, USAID offices and the Information Resource Centre (library) will also be closed.