Social Needs Of Inner-City Communities Being Addressed

Work has commenced to address some of the social needs of the four inner-city communities that have been targeted for improvement under the Government’s anti-crime initiative.
Allister Cooke, Social Intervention coordinator for the Anti-Crime Initiative, told JIS News that bathroom facilities had been installed in some 35 households in the communities of Denham Town, Hannah Town, Payne Avenue/McKoy Lane and Parade Gardens, which is also known as Southside and Tel-a-Viv.
Mr. Cooke pointed out that approximately 40 per cent of the $6 million allocation under the Culture, Housing, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) initiative, would be used to boost early childhood education and other social programmes in the four communities.
As of July this year, the Tavares Basic School in Payne Land and the Blessings Basic School in Parade Gardens are to be refurbished. The Chetolah Park Basic School in Hannah Town has also been targeted for improvement.
The coordinator disclosed that the Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Maxine Henry Wilson, visited the communities and made a commitment to ensure that the standard of education at these schools would be equivalent to that of other basic and primary schools. Mr. Cooke noted that already, the Social Development Commission (SDC) had fenced and painted the play area of the Mahfood Basic School in Payne Land.
Special attention would also be given to the health of the children. He said that based on a needs assessment, the Ministry of Health had submitted estimates of $320,000 to fund immunization programmes in the four communities.
In addition, he noted that the HEART Trust/NTA had committed to offer training in construction and reading skills to residents of Parade Gardens.
Mr. Cooke, who is also Chairman of the HEART/Trust NTA, told JIS News that with housing solutions slated to be built in Parade Gardens, it would be more cost-effective to hire skilled persons from the community.
Although the SDC had completed detailed community profiles for three of these communities, he said it was the communities that had identified the projects that the implementing Ministry and agencies are to embark on in phases.
Outlining the approach to be taken in completing social projects, Mr. Cooke said the Ministry of Development was working alongside existing agencies such as the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), HEART/Trust NTA, the SDC and the communities to implement social programmes.
Accompanied by representatives in the Ministry of Development and officers of the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF), Mr. Cooke recently visited the communities of Denham Town, Hannah Town, Payne Avenue/McKoy Lane and Parade Gardens to determine the scope of work to be done.
He reported that the JDF was continuing demolition activities in Hannah Town and Denham Town to create space for establishing small businesses.
Mr. Cooke pointed out that the residents in these communities had been placed at a disadvantage. Because of the high incidence of violence in their communities, he noted that social services that other communities took for granted were not accessible to them.
“With the Security Forces being present in these communities, we have been able to start in a modest way to create some benefits for the residents,” he said. He informed that Metropolitan Parks and Markets has resumed garbage collection, which had been deplorable in these communities.
“Now that the violence has been diminished, we also expect to see sidewalks being repaired, road signs being installed and green areas being restored and established,” Mr. Cooke told JIS News.