Fairy Hill, Portland gets community centre

PORT ANTONIO — The community of Fairy Hill in Portland now has a community centre to serve its citizens.

The facility, completed in 2008, was officially opened at a function on Thursday, May 27. It is located on the grounds of Poinciana Park in Fairy Hill, and was built under the Lift Up Jamaica Programme and completed in 2009.

The new facility has five bathrooms, a meeting hall, a kitchen and two administrative rooms. Its daily operation and management will be carried out by the Poinciana Park Management Committee, which comprises residents of the Fairy Hill Community and representatives of various interest groups in the area.

The opening ceremony was attended by a cross section of persons, including individuals representing various organizations and interest groups in the community.

Giving the main address, Director of Personnel at the Ministry of Education Regional Office in Port Antonio, Garth Gilmore, commended the residents for their high community spirit, and the exemplary display of cooperation over the year.

He said that the centre will act as a catalyst for other developmental projects in the community, and exhorted the community to regard it as their own and give it the best care and protection. He added that its establishment is an indication of what can be achieved, when communities become proactive and take responsibility for their progress and development.

In imploring other communities to emulate the example, support and cooperation demonstrated by the residents of Fairy Hill, he asserted that communities have a responsibility to make themselves sustainable, by ensuring that the amenities with which they are endowed last as long as possible.

Mr. Gilmore called for a re-embracing of the values which, in the past, made Jamaica outstanding, and emphasized the need for the provision of a greater level of character education, as the nation struggles to restore discipline and civic pride among its citizens.

He urged the citizens of the country to combine their efforts, to ensure that the values of honesty, decency and trust once again become the hallmark of the nation.

By ASTON G. BAILEY, JIS Reporter