MEMBER of Parliament for St Mary Central Dr Morais Guy says he is committed to advancing education in his constituency and as such, the development of human capital is one of his biggest priorities.

“I am always convinced that education, not only at the basic level but through to university, has to be important because the development of human capital must be a priority,” Guy said.

The second-term MP said he spent $3 million of last year’s allocation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) on a textbook revolving programme as well as providing bursaries for some 85 tertiary students.

The textbook programme, he explained, is implemented through the St Mary Principal Association which comprises principals from the two high schools and 17 primary and all-age institutions located in the constituency.

Under the revolving programme, Guy said a certain amount is allocated yearly to each division in the constituency and the principals determine which children are in need of assistance.

“This is done with the understanding that whatever textbook they receive must be returned to the programme so others can have access to it,” he said, adding that students would not receive further allocation unless those books were returned.

Of that $3-million allocation, Guy said $2.5 million was given as bursaries of between $20,000 and $40,000 to tertiary students.

“We recognise that we could not give full scholarships because we would have decreased the amount of persons who have received,” he said.

Guy, who said he plays an integral part in the principal’s association which was established under his regime in 2004, said the association has been very active in helping the worst performing schools to catch up.

Breaking down the allocations for the remainder of the CDF, Guy said $3 million was allocated for housing; $3 million went to the National People’s Co-operative Bank to assist with small businesses; $3.9 million to a water-improvement project in Flint River and Highgate; $12.9 million to rehabilitate three roads; $2.63 million for a plant nursery rehabilitation and a goat project; $2 million for welfare and emergency; $2 million on disaster mitigation; $2 million for social housing; and $2.5 million on a drain project in Highgate.

As for concerns expressed by the residents about the state of the roads, the MP said the estimate for the Sandside to Hampstead to Ballads Valley main road is $100 million, a sum he is hoping to access from the allocations out of the fuel cess.

As for the Port Maria to Islington main road, Guy said that cannot be rehabilitated until protective work – which has already begun – is completed on the river which continues to undermine the road surface.

Addressing the lack of skills training in some areas of the constituency, Guy said there will be no additional training facilities in these communities because of their close proximity to Port Maria where a HEART/NTA facility is located.

“The HEART in Port Maria is only utilised by about 55 per cent of the people from Central St Mary so there is still capacity for other students,” he said.

As for a community centre in Esher, Guy said the reduction in this year’s CDF allocation has resulted in a delay in rehabilitating the building which is to be used for that purpose.

With regard to the cleaning of drains in Port Maria, Guy said flooding in the town is not directly caused by the drains but by the nearby rivers which take the water from the hills into the drains below.

In this agricultural constituency of 44,000 residents, Guy agrees that there are several acres of underutilised land which could have been used for farming. Unfortunately, other than the Nonsuch property on the border of Hampstead, the majority of them are privately owned.

“It is a problem we have in this parish and nationally, but what makes it more urgent is that St Mary has good soil quality and rainfall to accommodate a wide variety of crops,” he said.

Guy said his team was also in the process of establishing a goat revolving project in areas like Robin Bay, Albion Mountain, Woodside, and Hampstead.

He admits that there have been limited jobs since the closure of a brassiere factory and Highgate Foods company. Since then, many residents have been trying to get into the hospitality sector to capitalise on the constituency’s closeness to the tourism mecca of Ocho Rios.

The MP, who lives in St Mary, welcomes constituents to his Port Maria office every first and third Thursday of the month. He also sees them every second and last Thursday at his Highgate office.