JSIF Funds Construction of Basic School in Clarendon

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) is providing $4.9 million for the construction of a basic school in the Springfield community in southwest Clarendon. “The Jamaica Social Investment Fund signed a contract with the Gimme-me-Bit/ Rocky Point/Springfield Seventh Day Benevolent Society, on January 27 for the construction of the basic school,” informed Ayanna Mitchell, Community Driven Development Coordinator at JSIF.

She told JIS News, that the project, expected to get underway in March and run for three months, would entail the building of two classrooms and conversion of an existing building into bathroom and kitchen facilities. The new school will accommodate about 70 students in Springfield and surrounding communities such as Budliegh, Springhead, Clifton and sections of Sedgepond.

The community will contribute 11 per cent of the project cost in securing construction material and equipment; donating the structure being converted into bathroom and kitchen facilities; organizing the handing over ceremony, including providing refreshment; clearing and cleaning site before and after construction; digging and completing a septic tank; providing furniture for classrooms; sourcing discounted labour; preparing a maintenance plan.

Chairman of the Benevolent Society, Donovan Stanberry, expressed pleasure at the project. “I’m pleased that the community of Springfield now has a real prospect of having its own basic school relieving the pressure on the poor parents of having to send their children outside the community.

We thank JSIF for their quick response and we hope that this project will serve as a rallying point to bring the community together, re-ignite the community spirit, and maintain the community cohesiveness to help solve other problems,” he said.
Since its inception in 1996, JSIF has approved 36 school projects in the parish of Clarendon at a cost of $143.2 million.