New Facilities Opened at Ebony Park HEART Academy

Two new facilities designed to improve agricultural production and training have been opened at the Ebony Park HEART Academy at Tollgate in Clarendon.

The facilities are a state-of-the-art poultry house, which has established in conjunction with the Jamaica Broilers Group of Companies at a cost of $9 million, and an agro-processing laboratory, set up in collaboration with the Caribbean Regional HRD Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC), at a cost of J$25 million.

The official opening took place on April 26 at a farm fest held at the academy.

In his address, Chairman of the HEART Trust/National Training Agency, Alister Cooke, said the facilities would be useful in developing a pool of trained and competent workers for the agro-processing sector, for expanding the institutional capacity of the academy, and for placing more products from Jamaican farms on consumers’ tables.

“This is another special milestone in our drive to achieve and sustain global standards in all our training programmes, including agriculture,” he said.

Mr. Cooke noted that the success of many programmes at HEART involved strategic partnerships with a number of agencies and commended the CPEC and the Jamaica Broilers Group for their initiative in assisting with the projects.

He pointed out that the facilities are expected to yield a gross profit of at least $3 million after one year, adding that the poultry house should act as a model for farmers who are interested in upgrading to a more modern and efficient type of poultry rearing.

The farm fest also featured seminars on yam propagation, shrimp and cotton production, public speaking competitions among schools, and several scientific and agricultural displays.