Ground Broken for Spicy Grove Infrastructure Works Project in St. Mary

Ground was broken on Wednesday (September 25) for the Spicy Grove Infrastructure Works Project in Oracabessa, St. Mary, which will entail the development and installation of roadways, water facilities and electricity in the community, as well as the formalisation of land tenure.

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, who delivered the keynote address during the official contract signing and ground-breaking ceremony, indicated that the Government has acquired land in the community, noting that some 70 lots will be surveyed and titled under the project.

“In addition to the road and the water and what we paid for the land on your behalf, you will also get your titles. In effect, if there ever was an example of a community that is going to be transformed [or] regularised overnight, Spicy Grove would be that community. You will get your road, your water, your light, your land title,” Dr. Holness emphasised.

Several millions of dollars will be invested in Spicy Grove under the programme, which, according to the Prime Minister, will ensure that “the people in the community take ownership of the community”.

“It is very important that we regularise informal settlements… that the people who live in these communities take ownership. This business of living somewhere and you don’t feel like you own it means that you don’t take the kind of responsibility for the community that you should,” Dr. Holness reasoned.

“But when you know that you have the title for the place, that this is an asset for you, when you see a man behaving badly in the community, you are more likely to stand up and say ‘listen, this is my place, this is my value and I don’t want you to destroy it’,” the Prime Minister added.

Dr. Holness, who pointed out that work on the project has commenced, asked the residents for cooperation if readjustments are taking place, adding that there is a process in place to deal with this development and that all interests will be consulted.

In her remarks, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Arlene Williams, said the ground-breaking exercise and commencement of work on the project is “not just the start of infrastructure works but the beginning of a brighter future for the people of Spicy Grove”.

She stated that the project is a vital part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to transform communities across Jamaica by building roads, providing water, formalising land tenure and creating an ‘ownership society’.

This, Mrs. Williams said, will break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, as formal land tenure enables a foundation for economic stability, is a powerful tool through which persons can uplift themselves and a catalyst for community development.

Also speaking was St. Mary Western Member of Parliament, Robert Montague.

Southland Construction Limited has been contracted to execute the project.