Guilsbro Gets Multipurpose Court and Playfield Under ‘Spruce Up Jamaica’

Residents of Guilsbro in St. James now have a vibrant space for sports, recreation and community engagement, with the opening of a new multipurpose court and playfield.

The facility, which was provided under the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) Spruce Up Jamaica programme, was officially opened by Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday (July 18).

It accommodates netball, volleyball, basketball, among other activities.

Minister Bartlett said the project is a strategic investment in youth and community life.

“This facility will become the central point for the young people to have recreation, to have an opportunity to interface with each other and to compete and build discipline together,” he noted.

He described the space as more than just infrastructure, noting that “it also is an area that you must utilise to enhance your own capacity to do more and to give more to your community, to yourself and to your country”.

Minister Bartlett indicated that additional infrastructure upgrades are coming for the community.

“We will start building the seating arrangements, and in time we are going to be refurbishing the community centre and also the basic school,” he informed.

For his part, Executive Director of TPDCo, Wade Mars, said the agency is proud to bring the initiative to the rural community.

“We felt great pride in knowing that we are bringing the earnings of tourism in the different nooks and crannies right across the island of Jamaica,” he noted.

Mr. Mars thanked the Minister for entrusting TPDCo to deliver the project to the community.

In his remarks, Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, praised the initiative by TPDCo and encouraged residents of the community to preserve the space and use it well.

“You are a critical stakeholder in its management. I want to encourage you to take care of it; it is for your community,” the Mayor said.

The Spruce Up Jamaica Programme forms part of the Government’s broader strategy to enhance the quality of life in local communities through the reinvestment of tourism earnings in social infrastructure and recreational spaces.