Micro-Entrepreneurs In Denham Town Receive Equipment Valued At $2.8 Million

Eight owners of microenterprises in Denham Town, Kingston, have benefited from equipment valued at $2.8 million towards improving their businesses.

The support was provided under the Enterprise Development Project being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) under the Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP) Phase 2.

These community entrepreneurs, which include cookshops operators, a dressmaker, a barber, and a rabbit farmer, were presented with stoves, freezers, a sewing machine, a rag warmer and other items.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, and Member of Parliament for West Kingston, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, in his remarks at the presentation ceremony held at the Denham Town Community Centre on Tuesday (December 22), told the beneficiaries to look at the investment as one for the improvement of the entire community.

“I want to encourage you, those of you who are receiving these items today, to make use of them and to ensure that you appreciate and remember that many more will benefit once you make a success of it.

“I want to urge you, not just to think of the investment JSIF is making in you, as your investment alone; it is an investment for Denham Town,” Mr. McKenzie said.

For his part, Managing Director, JSIF, Omar Sweeney, said that the Enterprise Development Project is for the improvement of Denham Town and the other communities that stand to benefit from the undertaking.

“We (JISF) have been empowered by the Government of Jamaica to carry out these types of interventions in communities that need it most. In 2017, Denham Town was declared a Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO) and… we have managed to do some improvement on the physical environment. We’ve managed to carry out many interventions that have brought us today to look at small business operations,” he informed.

Rabbit farmer Gewana Reid thanked JSIF on behalf of the beneficiaries “for assisting members of our community”.

She has committed to making a success of her business, so that other entrepreneurs in the community can benefit as well.

Other communities that will receive support under the Enterprise Development Project include Greenwich Town and August Town in St. Andrew; Treadlight in Clarendon; and Anchovy, Salt Spring and Mount Salem in St. James.