THE Digicel Foundation has pledged an annual support of $10 million in cash and prizes to the Better Environments for Social Transformation (BEST) Community competition, which was launched recently at Jamaica House in Kingston.

Executive director of the foundation, Major General Robert Neish, said the organisation was very happy to support a programme that will strengthen national and community pride.

“I am pleased to announce that Digicel Foundation will be committing $10 million per annum towards the staging of the Best Community competition. Those funds will go towards the provision of trophies and prize money, with $2 million for the winning community at the national level.

“At Digicel, we are committed to building sustainable communities through the utilisation of resources in the development of cultural, educational and social opportunities. In this vein, we will be assisting with social transformation in communities by offering technical expertise and resources in the area of educational and cultural development, to the communities participating in the competition,” he said.

Neish told the launch that a similar programme, dubbed Tidy Town, exists in Ireland, the birth place of Digicel’s CEO, David Hall and that was one of the reasons the company accepted the invitation to become involved in the BEST community project.

The national competition seeks to involve civil society in achieving the sustainable development of their communities and is open to all 785 communities islandwide that are defined by the Social Development Commission as geographical spaces within which people form relationships with one another in their effort to access goods and services.

The other criterion for entry is that communities display an interest in enhancing their surroundings and thereby enriching their lives.

Objectives of the BEST competition include the built environment, the natural environment, socio-economic issues, hazard mitigation and disaster preparedness, education, health and waste management and heritage and culture. Applications opened December 1 and will close on February 16, 2007.

The best community at the national level will be awarded $2 million and trophies. At the parish level, the winners will receive $300,000 while special category prizes at the national and parish levels will amount to $200,000 and $50,000 each respectively.

At the launch, patron of the SDC-spearheaded competition, Governor General Professor Kenneth Hall marvelled at the ironic coexistence of dynamism and decay in many Jamaican communities. Endorsing the competition and the benefits to be enjoyed from it, Professor Hall noted that a beautiful physical environment gives rise to harmonious social relationships.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, a former minister of community development, added her voice to the efforts being coordinated by the SDC.

“I am a firm believer in the importance of communities and the role that they can play in the development of our country. Their involvement is absolutely necessary in ensuring that the values and attitudes in our society are restored and maintained at high standards.

“I am extremely enthusiastic about any programme that seeks to involve communities, build bridges among our people and encourage self-reliance and pride,” she said.

At the same time, the prime minister appealed for community members to become involved in the competition.