MANCHESTER, Jamaica – Member of Parliament for Manchester Central Rhoda Crawford is calling for greater community spirit following Labour Day activities in Manchester.

Crawford, while lauding residents who participated in activities, said there is a shift from volunteerism by some people.

“… I am realising that quite a number of people would have opted to either use the day to rest or some have gone off to the beach, so I want to appeal constituents and Jamaica on a whole that we need to get back to our roots and build back the community spirit, because projects and initiatives like these have everybody coming together,” she said.

Crawford spearheaded the repair of the Blue Mountain community centre in her constituency where 70 people volunteered.

“The community centre has been in disrepair for many years, so we came and did debushing, painting, and repairs to the roof. We also planted trees. The team from HEART/NSTA Trust did some on the spot assessments and registered some young people to be enrolled in quite a number of the programmes,” she said.

She said work will have to continue after Labour Day to complete the renovation of the community centre.

“HEART/NSTA Trust has decided that they are going to adopt the centre and they are going to be doing some additional work after today and to use the centre as a community site. I am very impressed with the turnout of the community and the team from HEART/NSTA Trust. We had more than 70 people at this location volunteering,” she added.

She said other projects were done across the constituency.

– Kasey Williams