Move to Establish Youth Development Centre in Spanish Town Lauded

KINGSTON — With construction of the St. Catherine Youth Information Centre (YIC) and training facility slated to begin this month, stakeholders involved in youth development are lauding the Government initiative, stating that it will bring renewed hope for the parish's young people.

Chairman of the St. Catherine Parish Development Committee (PDC), Earl Hyde, said the project is one of the "most useful and worthwhile ventures to take place in Spanish Town."

Addressing a recent stakeholders’ forum held at the project site, Mr. Hyde said the centre will keep young people productively engaged and eliminate their involvement in deviant activities.

"I am very sure that this facility, upon completion, will have a very positive impact. Once we get our youth active, when they really get working, there is no stopping them and I know that with this facility, we can always look forward to a drastic change in the attitude of our young people. It will keep them occupied, it will give them new visions, a new mission, and a new prospect as far as life is concerned,” he stated.

Construction of the facility, to be housed at the Old Spanish Town police station, is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Jamaica and will be operated by the National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD) and the National Youth Service (NYS).

The aim is to create a multipurpose complex, where young people can access information services, programmes administered by the NYS, skills training, and participate in recreational activities.

Phase one of the project, estimated to cost $60 million, is to be completed within 12 months. 

"In the next phases, there will be a recording studio, a community radio station, rooms where we will teach cultural activities,” informed Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Olivia Grange at the community meeting.

"My vision is that those little cells around the back will become artisan shops where people can go and do their carving, create craft work, and learn to do creative things. When we develop Emancipation Square, we can take performers to the square to perform for visitors,” she said.

Acting Executive Director of the NYS, Alan Beckford, stated that the project will enable the service to reach more young people and improve the effectiveness of training programmes.

"What it will immediately allow us to do is to be able to operate more efficiently, in that we have better training facilities here; we will be able to train all the time. It is going to far exceed 100 persons on an annual basis," he informed.

Senor Superintendent of Police (SSP), James Forbes, who is a member of the NYS Board, is also lauding the move by Government to establish the facility. He told JIS News that it provides an opportunity to “divert young people away from negative activities and to find something positive to do".

"It is wonderful; I commend Minister Grange and all the organisers of this. I see this as a tremendous opportunity for young people to …steer their energies into the right direction,” he added.

South Central St. Catherine Member of Parliament, Sharon Hay-Webster, for her part, encouraged the young people to take advantage of the opportunities to be provided.

"This plan that Minister Grange is looking at, is ensuring that your voice has space. You have to learn to earn, you determine how much you earn to by how much you learn," she stated.

Several youngsters, who attended the stakeholders’ forum, expressed delight with the establishment of the centre, and said they would be spreading the message to their peers.  

The YICs, which have been established across the island, aim to empower young people by providing them with counselling and relevant information on scholarships, education and training opportunities, and entrepreneurial programmes, access to the Internet, among other things. They also serve to encourage the youth to participate in sound social activities. They are operated by the NCYD.

The mandate of the NYS is to tackle youth issues and make a meaningful impact on unattached youth through training opportunities and behavior modification, and personal development.

By Garfield Angus, JIS Reporter