Accompong to Get Library and Computer Centre

Work will get underway next month on the construction of a state-of-the-art library and computer centre in the community of Accompong in St. Elizabeth.

The project is being funded by recording artiste and music producer, Mystic Bowie, a resident of the area, who is living overseas.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday (January 6), Minister of Education, Hon. Ronald Thwaites, said the project is significant for the Maroon community and lauded Mr. Bowie for investing more than $6 million (US$65,000) “in the building of education for his community”.

He said the Government is promoting such public/private partnerships, “where someone from the community comes together with the education system to lift up the hopes and possibilities of our children.”

The library and computer centre is to be built on the grounds of the Accompong Primary and Junior High School. The construction period is about eight months.

Principal of the school, Garfield Rowe, said the facility will serve children and adults in the Accompong community. He lauded Mr. Bowie for his contribution and expressed the hope that “others will come on board and support the children.”

For his part, Mystic Bowie stated that his passion is to see children in the area get the best education possible.

He informed that in recent years, he has been donating a percentage of his earnings to Accompong Primary and Junior High to ensure that the students have the necessary educational supplies.

“The hope for this community is for the children to fight to preserve this culture as this culture is all we have. Education is the number one, the key to success. If we don’t… give these children knowledge, we are failing them, and as a Maroon, I am making sure that I give them the educational supplies that they need,” he said.