• Category

  • Content Type

Advertisement

East Rural St. Andrew Residents Put Work into Labour Day

By: , May 24, 2017

The Key Point:

Residents of communities across East Rural St. Andrew turned out in large numbers to participate in Labour Day projects on Tuesday, May 23.
East Rural St. Andrew Residents Put Work into Labour Day
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Wife of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for East Rural St. Andrew, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness (centre), joins residents in preparing a concrete mixture for the patching of roads in Dublin Castle on Labour Day, May 23.

The Facts

  • Member of Parliament for the area, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, and members of her team were busy coordinating and participating in a number of the activities.
  • Mrs. Holness, who spoke to JIS News during her stop at Dublin Castle, said significant support was received from several businesses, which provided material, fixtures and other inputs.

The Full Story

Residents of communities across East Rural St. Andrew turned out in large numbers to participate in Labour Day projects on Tuesday, May 23.

Member of Parliament for the area, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, and members of her team were busy coordinating and participating in a number of the activities.

She told JIS News that the projects were wide-ranging and included road repairs in Dublin Castle, Penny Hill, and Top Road; and bushing, repainting of pedestrian crossings and general beautification in Mavis Bank, Bull Bay, and Gordon Town, where a bus shed was also constructed adjacent to Grove Primary School.

The Mission House Methodist Basic School in Gordon Town, Dallas Primary School, and the Harbour View Branch Library and community centre were also refurbished.

Mrs. Holness, who spoke to JIS News during her stop at Dublin Castle, said significant support was received from several businesses, which provided material, fixtures and other inputs.

She cited Caribbean Cement Company Limited, which supplied 250 bags of cement, which were used to patch the most badly deteriorated sections of the Dublin Castle road and other thoroughfares.

Additionally, she informed that hardware merchant, Lumber Depot, contributed toilets and face basins, among other fixtures, for the Harbour View library and community centre.

Mrs. Holness said she was pleased with the extent of the citizens’ involvement, noting that Dublin Castle, in particular, has been a “model community”.

She noted that the residents have been proactive in repairing sections of the road, which has deteriorated extensively over time.

She informed that they were able to raise $150,000 this year, which she matched, “because they made such a great effort”.

“It is a farming community, and a part of growing our country greatly depends on agriculture. In order for it to be more productive and profitable for the residents, we need to improve the road network that the farmers have to traverse on,” she noted.

Mrs. Holness said substantial repairs were also done on another section of the Dublin Castle road through collaboration with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

“The contractor and RADA made an agreement to use concrete… instead of doing asphalting, so that it would last. Also, if you traverse the road, you are going to see a lot of areas (that are) concreted. Those were done substantially by the people in the community. Each Labour Day, that is exactly what we have done,” she added.

Mrs. Holness lauded the spirit of volunteerism exhibited by residents of the various communities, both on Labour Day and throughout the year.

“Labour Day is very hectic for us… and everybody, basically, gets involved. But we are very accustomed to having other workdays in our constituency, in order to develop (it) community by community. I saw more than 500 persons coming out to work last year… but this year is even bigger because you’re finding that more people are coming out and getting involved,” she adds.

Mrs. Holness said she continues to encourage the residents in their endeavours “because the Government alone cannot do the job that we are going to need to do in lifting the communities”.

“We are going to continue to give them that support, so that we lift their spirits and keep them working to develop their road network. Although we may not get all the roads finished at the same time, we are trying to repair the worst spots to make it a little easier to traverse,” she told JIS News.

Last Updated: May 25, 2017

Skip to content