192 Priority Development Plans Submitted by Communities

Some 192 priority development plans, which set out key areas identified by communities for development, have been submitted to the Social Development Commission (SDC).
Director of Community Development Planning at the SDC, Mr. Courtney Brown, addressing a Think Tank at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) head office in Kingston yesterday (November 26), explained that the SDC officers work with the community leaders in developing the plans, which have the input of residents.
He said that most of the information included in the plans came from the community profiles developed by the SDC’s Research Department.
“These plans would normally have a vision of where the communities want to go. This is their long-term view of what the community should be like in the future. They will also state within this plan, the current issues that face the community,” he informed.
According to Mr. Brown, proposals for projects identified in the documents have been submitted to funding agencies and international development partners of the SDC. “There have been responses to quite a few and it is an on-going process,” he told JIS News.
As a result of the plan submitted by the Hannah Town Community Development Committee in 2004, a perimeter fence was constructed around the Chetolah Park Primary School in Kingston to secure the school grounds.
Additionally, Mr. Brown said a number of economic ventures, including hair salons and ice cream parlours, were established by the Hannah Town Women’s Group.
“Some of those shops are still operational now and have provided employment for persons there,” he told JIS News.
Stating that the plans “put the communities on a path to tackle the main issues that they want to deal with,” Mr. Brown said they include strategies to deal with parenting, low self-esteem, work ethics, and anger management.
He told JIS News that SDC organised several counselling and parenting sessions in Hannah Town over the years to address these issues.