LUCEA, Hanover — Stakeholders in Lucea are thrilled that their town has been chosen as the pilot project for a beautification project that will see brightly painted murals used to spruce up neighbourhoods.

Local Government and Rural Development Minister Desmond McKenzie officially launched the Paint the City, Paint the Town initiative during a ceremony in Bustamante Square, Lucea, Hanover, last Friday. In addition to giving towns across the country a facelift, it will also provide temporary and permanent jobs.

The programme, which was originally conceptualised for the capital city, Kingston, and later extended to rural towns, is being funded by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

“I decided last year that while Kingston is the most important place in Jamaica because it is the capital of the country, we should extend the programme beyond Kingston. And so, beyond the 13 parishes outside of the Corporate Area, we have initiated a programme of this nature,” said McKenzie.

“We started in Brown’s Town in St Ann, and I decided to have the launch in the western part of the island, and we chose Lucea as the location for the official launch of the Paint the City, Paint the Town,” he added.

The Hanover leg of the programme will see work being done in Lucea in the west and Hopewell to the east of the parish. It is estimated to cost $16-18 million.

McKenzie noted on Friday that, in addition to Lucea and Hopewell, Sandy Bay and Green Island will also receive attention under the programme.

Following the ceremony, the minister, who noted that Hanover is the showcase for the island, unveiled murals in the town of Lucea.

The murals depict landmark scenes in the parish, along with the faces of outstanding Hanoverians, such as Jamaica’s first Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante, former Prime Minister P J Patterson, former Governor General Kenneth Hall, Olympian Merlene Ottey, and sprinter Odail Todd.

“Due to our efforts to maintain good health and cleanliness, today we are proud to say that the life expectancy of Hanoverians is 79.2 years, which is 4.4 years more than the average years for the country,” said Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels. “If you want to live longer, move to Lucea!”

The mayor, who noted that the town’s natural beauty and rich cultural history often go unrecognised, said over the past two months extensive work had been done to paint curb walls in appropriate colours within Lucea and Hopewell, along with giving a facelift to the Lucea Transportation Centre and Cleveland Stanhope Market.

Also, the sea wall leading into the town has been painted and the refurbishing of the Hopewell Market is almost 90 per cent complete.

“We have recently designed and developed a park in the town where people will have access to free Wi-Fi as they sit, relax, and even court as we promote good healthy lifestyle in a clean, safe environment. Upon the completion of this park, it will be named the James Lawrence Municipal Corporation Park,” said Samuels.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Hanover Western Tamika Davis thanked McKenzie for recognising, identifying, and choosing the parish to benefit from the launch.

This is the second occasion, in recent times, that a location in Hanover has been tapped to be the pilot. Chambers Pen in Hanover is the first model community under an almost $700-million Rural Development Programme that will span five parishes. Encouraged by these two projects, Davis is of the view that, “Hanover is no longer a forgotten parish.”

MP for Hanover Eastern (Jamaica Labour Party) Dave Brown, encouraged the people of Hanover and visitors, “who will undoubtedly be affected by this initiative, to see the beauty around them and reflect on their actions. We should all appreciate the purpose of this initiative and do everything to maintain and cure the space”.

The Ministry of Local Government will be spending $300 million on the first phase of the Paint the City, Paint the Town project. It will generate employment through beautification, mural painting, street-sign installation, and the improvement of selected markets.