$150-m infant school for Mt Salem
Part of ZOSO upgrade via JSIF
MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) is expected to sign a $150-million contract early next month to begin construction of a new, modern infant school in Mount Salem, St James.
“Early in 2025 we will be constructing a state-of-the-art infant school facility at the Mount Salem Primary School. I believe it’s in excess of $150 million. We’ll sign that contract in early January,” said JSIF Managing Director Omar Sweeney.
He was speaking with reporters during the Norwood Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at the multi-purpose sports complex in the community last Saturday night. Norwood is another St James community where a zone of special operations (ZOSO) was also introduced.
Projects completed in Mount Salem as part of the social component of the ZOSO include upgrading of the primary school, along with construction of a $45-million police station. The latter, built with funding from the European Union, benefits about 9,050 residents in Mount Salem and surrounding communities.
“Mount Salem was the first ZOSO. We’ve done a number of things there. And at the school, which is a central point for that community, we had upgraded the primary school. We had also put in a multi-purpose court. We had added additional classrooms. And so what has happened now is the infant department was the last piece of it that wasn’t dealt with, and so that part is going to be dealt with early in 2025,” Sweeney said.
On Saturday, he and his team hosted a treat to accompany the tree-lighting ceremony in Norwood. Sweeney said it was the first of several to be hosted by the agency across the country.
“Tonight [Saturday], we’re in Norwood for the kick-off. And this Christmas tree-lighting ceremony will, of course, mark the beginning of the festivities for the season. This will be a focal point for the season, of course, and so the tree will be here,” he said.
Earlier this month the House of Representatives extended, by six months, the seven ZOSOs set up across Jamaica. They are in Mount Salem and Norwood in St James, Denham Town and Parade Gardens in Kingston, August Town and Greenwich Town in St Andrew, and Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland.
In moving the motions to extend the ZOSOs, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang said the Government has made significant progress in the seven zones over the past six months and wishes to continue with these efforts.
