JSIF Leads Labour Day Beautification Efforts in Savanna-La-Mar

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) led beautification efforts across sections of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, as part of Labour Day activities on Friday (May 23). 

The agency carried out work along Cooke Street, Queen Street, Dalling Street and other areas as part of ongoing engagements within the island’s Zones of Special Operations (ZOSO). 

Savanna-la-Mar was declared a ZOSO by Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, in January 2022. 

On Friday, residents of the targeted communities turned out in large numbers to participate in various Labour Day activities, including engagements at the Cooke Street multipurpose court and the Race Course Early Childhood Institute, which were outlined by JSIF’s Managing Director, Omar Sweeney, during a JIS News interview.  

“So [we did] some drain cleaning, some masonry work to fix… chopped walls, plumbing work, bushing of Dalling Street, and cleaning and garbage removal. On Queen Street and Cooke Street, we also [did] some bushing and painting of sidewalks,” he said. 

Mr. Sweeney noted that these are “typical Labour Day work and typical to the overall programme that we’re doing in the West and supporting the communities, especially in the Zones of Special Operations”. 

He pointed out that while engagements in ZOSOs are ongoing, it is typical of JSIF to conduct community engagement activities on public holidays and other special occasions.  

“When we do community engagements, especially on public holidays [like] Labour Day, we try to ensure that we are able to really mobilise the full community because, normally, people are at work [or] going to school. So it’s a day when a community activity can really take hold,” Mr. Sweeney added. 

JSIF also carried out projects in other ZOSOs across western Jamaica.

This year’s Labour Day theme is ‘Protect the Environment: Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’, with the slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.