Efforts to end strike at Edna Manley

A meeting is expected today between a senior level team from the Ministry of Education and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), in a bid to end the three-day long strike by lecturers at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston.

JTA secretary-general, Dr Adolph Cameron, confirmed yesterday that the meeting will be held, but could not say which minister will be attending. The Ministry of Education is headed by Maxine Henry-Wilson, but has two ministers of state in MP Donald Rhodd and Senator Noel Monteith, a former head of the JTA.

The lecturers have been on strike since Monday, demanding that the government implement, by December, a pay packet agreed to by the JTA, on their behalf from September. The ministry of finance says it will not be able to afford the increases until next year.

Floods block St Mary roads

Heavy rains in St Mary yesterday left several roads in the parish blocked.

The affected roads included:

Broadgate;

Friendship Gap; and

Castleton

Meanwhile, there was a major deposit of silt and gravel along the Port Maria to Islington main road in the vicinity of Pagee.

It’s Children’s Day

In recognition of Universal Children’s Day, the Jamaica Coalition on the Right of the Child will today officially launch its child rights awareness project, which it said will foster the development of a rights-centred learning environment for primary school children and ultimately throughout the education system.

“We will be working with primary school teachers to identify problems that exist in the schools, partner them with community entities to search for a solution,” Carol Samuels, executive director for the coalition said.

The project that will be launched at the Jamaica Pegasus, is endorsed by the Ministry of Education and funded by Environmental Foundation of Jamaica and UNICEF.

New company to spearhead development of downtown Kgn

THE Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC), which will be spearheading the redevelopment of the city’s downtown area, will today be launched by Prime Minister P J Patterson.

The company, which is comprised of representatives of the public and private sectors, as well as from community organisations and companies in the downtown area, is expected to promote economic development and job creation in the city. Its intitiatives will, however, be concentrated in a designated business development district bounded on the south by Kingston harbour, on the east by hanover Street, by North Street on the north and on the west by Darling Street, Spanish Town Road and Marcus Garvey Drive.

A source told the Observer that the relocation of the Number Five Bus Terminus, colour coding of vending areas, a shuttle bus service, and a facelift and refurbishing of the St William Grant Park are some of the projects to be tackled by the KCCIC, in association with the Kingston Restoration Company (KRC).