Works Minister Satisfied with JEEP

Minister of Transport and Works, Dr. the Hon. Omar Davies, has expressed satisfaction with the impact of the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP).

“I can’t recall in my long years in the public sector, any programme, announced in January and is up and running in March…over 6,000 jobs were created (and) we identified funding and moved forward,” he told journalists today (June 20) at the weekly Jamaica House Press Briefing hosted by Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator, the Hon. Sandrea Falconer.

“I am very pleased with what has occurred, and I am very excited about what will happen in phase two,” he added.

In respect of complaints from some persons that they have not been paid for work done, Dr. Davies said that final payments are not usually made until the JEEP Secretariat signs off, and that this is “normal."

He assured that everyone, who has worked, and had their tasks duly certified as satisfactory, will be compensated.

The Minister said the first phase of the programme has received the “total cooperation” of all Members of Parliament. “Several have mentioned to me that for the first time in years, they have had an opportunity to participate in decision-making about projects in their constituency,” he remarked.

The Works Minister noted that in phase two, projects will be considered not just from Members of Parliament, but also church groups, community groups, and other bodies.

“We used MPs during the first phase because we wanted to get the thing off the ground immediately,” he told journalists.            

By Alphea Saunders, JIS Senior Reporter