Full Turnout for Labour Day Project at Comprehensive Health Centre

Despite early morning rains, and intermittent mid-morning showers, there was a full turnout of participants for the Ministry of Health’s Labour Day project, which was the beautification of the Comprehensive Health Centre located on Slipe Pen Road in Kingston.
The scheduled activities included landscaping and painting, planting of fruit trees and vegetable plots at various sections of the compound by personnel from the clinic, the Ministry, and the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA). Representatives from the Lion’s Club also lent their support to the day’s efforts.
Public Relations and Communications Manager at the Ministry, Stephanie Shaw-Smith, told JIS News that the facility was chosen, primarily because it is one of the biggest in the country, and is one of the more widely accessed and used by individuals. “We wanted to enhance the aesthetics of the clinic,” she stated.
The vegetables planted, which included tomato, cucumber, carrots, lettuce, cauliflower, callaloo, and sweet peppers, were to boost the clinic’s programme, through which nutritious products are provided to expectant mothers and children.
“They (clinic) give vegetables and nutritional products to expectant mothers and children (who come) here. We wanted to ensure that they are getting good vegetables as part of our thrust to ensure that everybody eats healthily,” Mrs. Shaw-Smith pointed out.
She informed that the Ministry is in discussion with the centre’s management to ensure that the crops are properly maintained.
“I think they will maintain it because the vegetable garden, for instance, that is something that they do (regularly), so it’s not something that is foreign to them. We are just assisting in ensuring that they get additional items,” she pointed out.
Mrs. Shaw-Smith said that despite the Ministry purchasing some of the material, a significant portion was donated. The fruit trees, which include june plum, were donated by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), while Sherwin Williams contributed the paint.
Stating that the staff also “contributed quite a bit,” she said: “They contributed more than just their time. All the tools that we’re using, we got from some staff members. In addition, we got some stuff from the Comprehensive Clinic’s administration as well.”
With the rains delaying the painting exercise, which involved brightening the kerb walls, Ms. Shaw-Smith gave the assurance that the Ministry’s representatives would return on another convenient day to complete the undertaking.
Meanwhile over at the Kingston Public Hospital/Victoria Jubilee medical complex in Downtown Kingston, Administrator of the facility, Andre Hylton, said Labour Day activities undertaken included painting and carpentry works at the Renal Unit and Eye Clinic.