JSIF Funds Road Repair Project in St. Catherine Community

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) has committed $34.4 million to undertake a major road rehabilitation project in the rural community of Maryland in St. Catherine.
The project will involve repair of the 3.5-kilometre Maryland Road beginning at Jubilee Town, through Maryland and ending at John’s Pen/Water Level.
The entire cost of the works is $36 million and the Maryland Citizens Association will be contributing $1.8 million. United States-based company, Contraxx Enterprises Limited has been contracted to execute the works, which is expected to be completed over a period of four months.
Speaking at the contract signing ceremony on Thursday (January 28) at the Maryland Church of God of Prophecy, Project Manager for the European Union Banana Support Programme (EUBSP), Celia Dillon, said that the aim of the project is to improve the infrastructure of the farming community and to also impact the lives of the residents.
“New roads are not just about getting from (one point to the next) in the shortest and safest way, important as these benefits are; they are about much more than that. For with the delivery of each new or rehabilitated road, a community or region becomes a better place to live, a better place to work and a better place to visit,” she said.
Miss Dillion added: “This project is a major landmark in the upgrading of the Guys Hill, Linstead, Riversdale and Pear Tree Grove routes. Upon completion, it will deliver major benefits to the people and businesses of this community and surrounding areas.”
The North East St. Catherine community is home to approximately 420 residents, consisting mostly of farmers.
The funding from JSIF comes through a grant from the European Union.