JBI to Roll Out Several Projects in Manchester

The Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) is investing millions of dollars in several projects to benefit farmers in mining communities in Manchester during the current financial year.

Director of Bauxite Lands at the JBI, Kemoy Lindsay, in providing details at a National Minerals Week conference at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville on May 6, said that among the initiatives is the Manchester Citrus Revitalisation Project, which will be rolled out in two phases starting this month.

In the first phase, seedlings will be distributed to select householders, and farmers with plots of land will be identified and provided with plants, fertiliser, training and the technical support needed to get citrus going in the parish again, he noted.

In addition, more than $15 million will be spent to undertake road repairs, and a cold storage facility will be constructed at Content at a cost of more than $150 million to serve the farmers at the greenhouse cluster and others nearby.

Mr. Lindsay said that 40 greenhouses are being repaired at Rose Hill and Blue Mountain at a cost of $24 million.

There are also plans to construct 100 more greenhouses in partnership with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).