Empowered Citizens will be Motivated to take Back their Communities – PM

Twelve inner city communities in the Corporate Area, St. Catherine, Clarendon, and St. James are being targeted for development under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) Inner City Basic Services Project.
Making the disclosure during her contribution to the 2007/08 Budget Debate in Gordon House today (May 1), Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller also noted that last year 17 projects were implemented under the JSIF programme.
“By September, JSIF will put to tender bids for the construction of seven community centres to benefit the residents of these inner-city communities,” said Mrs. Simpson Miller.
She added that “once citizens are empowered and enabled to access real development opportunities, they become motivated to take back their community and take responsibility for what goes on there.”
“This is the way forward to sustainability in tackling crime and violence. Security is more than crime fighting and the provision of more and bigger weapons. Unless we tackle the underlying causes, we will not be able to ‘shut down’ crime,” said the Prime Minister.
The Inner City Basic Services Project is a $2.2 billion Government of Jamaica and World Bank-funded programme.