An adjunct professor of urban development and ethics in Government, Raymond Rhoden on Saturday proposed that government considers the development of a US-style Marshall Plan “specifically designed to significantly improve the living standards of rural Jamaicans”.

Rhoden, who delivered the keynote address at the annual fund-raising and awards ceremony of the Ex-Correctional Officers Association of Jamaica in Queens, said such a plan should address the issues of providing adequate potable water supplies, improve road conditions, health care and education facilities, transportation, job creating institutions; and access to broadband services.“All of these things are absolutely required and critical if we are serious about improving the lives of rural Jamaicans and the contribution of rural communities to achieving the country’s social and economic goals,” Rhoden told his audience.He said that local and overseas based Jamaicans with the requisite technical expertise should be used to develop what he described as the “Rural Jamaica Development Marshall Plan”.According to Rhoden, who grew up in the eastern parish of St Mary, a properly constructed development plan for rural Jamaica would stem the flow of migration into the urban centres, which had given rise to many problems including the expansion of informal settlements.He noted that such a plan, if implemented, would also create hundreds of jobs for rural residents and would give Government the opportunity to offer incentives to investors to invest in those areas. Mindful of the country’s financial constraints that would impede development and implementation of such an ambitious venture, the professor expressed confidence that a sound plan and commitment on the part of the Government would most likely attract the attention of integrated funding agencies such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and other international partners who are concerned about the human cost of failing to develop our rural communities.He argued also that the technical assistance that such a plan requires could be obtained through agencies such as the United Nations, and countries such as China, India and the United States.While acknowledging the work being done by the Ex-Correctional Officers Association, Rhoden urged the organisation to use its position to influence the direction and priorities that Jamaica has laid out in its national development plans.The president of the association Ronnie Hammick told the gathering that, as of next year, it would be providing scholarships for Jamaican students.— Harold G Bailey