Local Government Ministry Approves $3.9 Million for New Pound in St. Elizabeth

The streets of St. Elizabeth and Manchester will soon be rid of stray animals as the St. Elizabeth Parish Council is now in the process of constructing a new pound.
Opal Beharrie, Secretary/Manager of the St. Elizabeth Parish Council, told JIS News that the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, has approved $3.9 million from the Equalization Fund to construct the facility. “This will be done through Force Account from the Parish Council because we feel if we give the personal supervision we can get maximum from what is allocated,” the Secretary/Manager said.
She informed that four hectares (10 acres) of land has been donated by Alpart for the effort and construction was expected to begin in another few days. The facility will serve both St. Elizabeth and Manchester.
“Manchester is without a pound and we feel that it is not really a viable entity so if the two parishes combine and participate in the maintenance of this facility we will do well.we are hoping that we can rid both the streets of Manchester and St. Elizabeth of all stray animals. Also motorists will be able to traverse the roadways in a safe manner,” Mrs. Beharrie stressed.
She told JIS News that with the amendment to the Pound Act in March of this year, the Council sought to act swiftly to tackle the problem of stray animals, which not only plagued St. Elizabeth, but all parishes.
“The streets of Jamaica are plagued with stray animals and we feel that it was a good move by the Government to amend the Pound Act so that we can deal with this issue as it has been a problem area in the country from Morant Point to Negril Point.
Now that the Act is in place, our focus at the Council is to have a municipal pound in operation,” she indicated.