KINGSTON, Jamaica— Seven inner-city communities are to benefit from a $20 million grant funding under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) ICDP II Enterprise Development Project.

The programme, which is funded by the Government of Jamaica is set to benefit the communities of August Town, Greenwich Town, Denham Town, Treadlight in Clarendon and Salt Spring, Anchovy and Mount Salem in St James.

According to the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, the project involves the provision of capital to procure equipment, training to adapt to new innovations and capacity building to support areas such as financial management, branding and marketing and developing new channels, for example, leveraging online marketing.

Addressing the launch of the project yesterday, portfolio minister Audley Shaw said that the ICDP II Enterprise Development Project is a welcomed intervention amid the ravages of one of the most challenging periods of our time.

“Many of our communities and small operators have been hit hard by the current global pandemic,” Shaw said.

“It has squeezed out already slim margins of profitability for many mom and pop businesses and small operators. As government, we are also aware of the umbilical relationship between social ills and the unavailability of resources to support legitimate and viable economic endeavours. That is why projects such as the ICDP II are so crucial,” he said.

He noted that the project will also provide business support for micro and small enterprises within the ICDP II communities to boost their entrepreneurial abilities through the provision of training and funding for priority equipment purchases, creating spin-off benefits such as employment generation and ultimately leading to profitability and improved economic standing for many others.

“The thrust of government is to enable and support national growth through capacity building of our goods and services producers, recognising as well, that it is this set of people, our entrepreneurs that turn the wheels of our economy. The seven communities selected also represent much hope,” the minister said.

“They are all commonly talked about for their violence producers. But we have an opportunity through this project to break that chain. A lot can be accomplished by the individuals within these spaces if their energy, talents and skills are harnessed for the greater good of the nation,” he added.

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the ICDP II will be implementing the ICDP II-Enterprise Development Project for a period of six months and will have a direct impact on 40-80 micro and small enterprises in the ICDP communities.

The project is being implemented in partnership with the Community Development Committees (CDCs) within the seven communities.