New Post Office Opens in Harmons, Manchester

The Harmons community in South Manchester has a new post office, which was constructed by the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) through its Bauxite Community Development Programme (BCDP).
Regional Coordinator from the Postal Corporation of Jamaica, Milda Mendez, in her remarks at the official opening and dedication of the $1.8 million facility on Thursday (Oct. 26), commended the JBI on its community development thrust.
She called on the post office staff and the community, to protect the facility “in the best way they can and also maintain it so that the services that the post and telecommunications department has to offer here will continue”.
Member of Parliament for South Manchester, Michael Peart, commended the various groups which participated in the project. “I’m proud of all the efforts of all the various entities that have gone into making this a success. I hope that it will become a symbol of community effort and prosperity,” he said.The new post office replaces a dilapidated wooden structure, which has been out of use since 2002, and was demolished about one year ago.
It is expected to benefit some 5,000 residents in the communities of John Robinson, Central Harmons, Greenpond, New City and other communities, who previously had to travel about five kilometres (three miles) to Porus to collect mail.
Basic services will be offered such as the delivery and collection of mail as well as stamp sales, with services to be expanded at a later date.
Wesley Harley, Project Officer at the JBI, expressed thanks to the community and the various agencies that worked on the project.
“Whatever help we have given through the BCDP, which is designed to assist in developing projects in bauxite communities, we are willing to help. We work through your community council, and we will see how we can assist your community to go further,” he promised.
The Harmons Post Office is the fifth such facility to be established by the JBI in mining communities across the island, with post offices in Hayes, Clarendon and Kendal, Manchester and postal agencies in Rio Hoe and Gibraltar in St. Ann.
The BCDP was established in 1996 to reinvest some of the earnings from the Bauxite/alumina industry in the communities located close to mining operations. The programme promotes and provides funding for long-term sustainable development projects that generate income and employment and improve the social and physical infrastructure of mining communities.