KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Social Development Commission (SDC) has completed the asset mapping of communities in Clarendon in order to identify the resources of the parish.

The entity will be showcasing the maps generated to the public at a Geographic Information System (GIS) Day event to be held on January 27 at the old police station in May Pen.

 “We are happy to have completed asset mapping in all 79 communities and we are now able to present these to the public,” said deputy executive director, SDC, Juanita Reid, at a recent JIS Think Tank.

“We are able to identify… our police stations, our churches, hospitals, even where we have our community-based organisations, (and) any economic activity,” she explained.  

“We are able to take all this information in-house and create maps which show the space and layout of a community,” she noted further.

Asset mapping provides information about the strengths and resources of a community and can help uncover solutions. The information can be used to build on available assets to address community needs and improve health.

Reid said the SDC is in the process of mapping all 775 communities across Jamaica.  “We are at about 70 per cent, and in terms of the maps we have been showcasing them in the communities and getting them validated; that is, getting residents to confirm that the maps represent the space they occupy,” she noted.

Meanwhile, Reid said GIS Day will raise awareness about the usefulness of the technology in community development.

Among activities on the day will be the judging of the GIS map-building competition. Reid informed that 40 of the 79 communities in the parish are engaged in developing the maps.

Prizes will be awarded for the best map for the development area and the best map for Clarendon.

GIS is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on the earth’s surface.

GIS can show many different kinds of data on one map, which enable people to more easily see, analyse, and understand patterns and their relationships to each other.