Portmore Municipal Corporation Improves Pedestrian Safety, Green Spaces on Labour Day
By: , May 23, 2025
Photo: Ibex volunteers, Sourcing Specialist, Sharlene Wilson left) and Talent Acquisition Manager, Britannia Bennett right), paint a section of the newly erected sidewalk along George Lee Boulevard in Portmore on Friday May 23) which forms part of the Portmore Municipal Corporation’s Labour Day Project. The Corporation is also carrying out tree-planting activities in the community of Portsmouth, which aligns with this year’s Labour Day theme, ‘Protect the Environment Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’ and slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.
Ibex volunteers, Sourcing Specialist, Sharlene Wilson (left) and Talent Acquisition Manager, Britannia Bennett (right), paint a section of the newly erected sidewalk along George Lee Boulevard in Portmore on Friday (May 23) which forms part of the Portmore Municipal Corporation’s Labour Day Project. The Corporation is also carrying out tree-planting activities in the community of Portsmouth, which aligns with this year’s Labour Day theme, ‘Protect the Environment: Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’ and slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.
Photo: Members of the Portmore Municipal Corporation and Ibex Global Jamaica Limited teams paint the newly constructed sidewalk along George Lee Boulevard in Portmore on Friday May 23) as part of this year’s Labour Day project. Participating are from right) Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas; Senior Vice President of Operations and Country Manager for Ibex Global Jamaica Limited, Phil Taylor; Director of Business Analytics at Ibex, Damaine Burton; Senior Director of Training and Development at Ibex, Rene Johnson; Chief Executive Officer CEO) of the Portmore City Municipality, Rovel Morris; and Security and Transport Manager at Ibex, Orane Hibbert.
Members of the Portmore Municipal Corporation and Ibex Global Jamaica Limited teams paint the newly constructed sidewalk along George Lee Boulevard in Portmore on Friday (May 23) as part of this year’s Labour Day project. Participating are (from right) Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas; Senior Vice President of Operations and Country Manager for Ibex Global Jamaica Limited, Phil Taylor; Director of Business Analytics at Ibex, Damaine Burton; Senior Director of Training and Development at Ibex, Rene Johnson; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Portmore City Municipality, Rovel Morris; and Security and Transport Manager at Ibex, Orane Hibbert.
Photo: Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas left) accepts a cheque valued at $50,000 as a donation from Senior Vice President of Operations and Country Manager for Ibex Global Jamaica Limited, Phil Taylor, on Friday May 23) ahead of the commencement of the Portmore Municipal Corporation’s Labour Day Project on George Lee Boulevard in Portmore. The project includes the construction and painting of sidewalks and planting of trees in the Portsmouth community in alignment with this year’s Labour Day theme, ‘Protect the Environment Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’ and slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.
Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas (left) accepts a cheque valued at $50,000 as a donation from Senior Vice President of Operations and Country Manager for Ibex Global Jamaica Limited, Phil Taylor, on Friday (May 23) ahead of the commencement of the Portmore Municipal Corporation’s Labour Day Project on George Lee Boulevard in Portmore. The project includes the construction and painting of sidewalks and planting of trees in the Portsmouth community in alignment with this year’s Labour Day theme, ‘Protect the Environment: Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’ and slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.
Photo: Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas, shovels dirt into the hole of a newly planted tree at the entrance to Portsmouth in Portmore on Friday May 23) as part of the Portmore Municipal Corporation’s Labour Day project. The Corporation, with the assistance from volunteers, also constructed and painted a sidewalk, which runs along George Lee Boulevard in the Municipality, aligning with this year’s Labour Day theme, ‘Protect the Environment Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’ and slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.
Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas, shovels dirt into the hole of a newly planted tree at the entrance to Portsmouth in Portmore on Friday (May 23) as part of the Portmore Municipal Corporation’s Labour Day project. The Corporation, with the assistance from volunteers, also constructed and painted a sidewalk, which runs along George Lee Boulevard in the Municipality, aligning with this year’s Labour Day theme, ‘Protect the Environment: Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’ and slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.The Full Story
The Portmore Municipal Corporation continued its multi-phased Labour Day Project on Friday (May 23) aimed at enhancing safety and improving the quality of life for residents.
Members of the Corporation, led by Mayor of Portmore, His Worship Leon Thomas and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Portmore City Municipality, Rovel Morris, joined volunteers from Ibex Global Jamaica Limited, Lions Club of Portmore, the St. Catherine South Police Youth Clubs and community members to carry out construction and painting of sidewalks and tree planting in the Portsmouth Community.
The current phase of the sidewalk construction runs along George Lee Boulevard, from HEART/NSTA Trust Academy to the Waterford traffic light in the municipality. This builds on the initial phase that began two years ago at the Portmore Mall.
Mayor Thomas told JIS News that a critical focus of the work being carried out is pedestrian safety.
“We are doing tree planting; we are doing sidewalks because you know Portmore was developed without sidewalks… and our physically challenged people are having difficulty accessing the road to go to HEART/NSTA and also to the [Portmore] Mall. We have a lot of schools within this area and… they have to be competing with the motorists,” Mr. Thomas said.
He added that when this phase of construction is completed, the sidewalks will be over a mile long, connecting Waterford to the Portmore Mall.
It will provide a safe and accessible pathway for residents, including wheelchair users, those who are visually impaired, students, and joggers.
The Mayor also informed that the Municipal Corporation is looking at other areas in Portmore where this type of work is needed.
Mr. Thomas also disclosed plans to establish bicycle lanes across Portmore once the road infrastructure in the Municipality improves.
Meanwhile, Mr. Morris highlighted the importance of the Labour Day project, and its alignment with this year’s theme and slogan.
The theme for Labour Day 2025 is ‘Protect the Environment: Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future’, with the slogan ‘Jamaica Nice, Protect Wi Paradise’.
“We’re here this morning completing the sidewalks. We started in 2023. We did not do a project last year due to certain circumstances, but we are continuing the sidewalk. It’s good for pedestrian safety. It’s good to curtail motorists that are not driving correctly, protecting students, etc.,” the CEO said.
He further disclosed that in addition to the completion of the project on George Lee Boulevard, the Municipality has donated items to active community citizens associations across Portmore that are engaging in Labour Day activities.
“We have donated cement, food, water, basically things to do infrastructure work, because they’re going to be doing painting, bushing, cleaning of parks, et cetera. So, they would have sent in the list, … and we make our donations to them,” Mr. Morris said.
Senior Vice President of Operations and Country Manager for Ibex Global Jamaica Limited, Phil Taylor highlighted the importance of giving back to the community where the company has its operations.
“It is important for us to partner with the community; we have a very large footprint here in Portmore. We employ over 2,000 people in the area…, and our mission is to drive meaningful relationships and career paths for as many people as we possibly can. What that means is that we give back to the communities which granted us those citizens,” Mr. Taylor said.
In addition to volunteering their time, Ibex also made a $50,000 donation to the Portmore Municipal Corporation.
The work has been well-received by community members. One resident who has lived in Portsmouth for 23 years, Andrea Boyd, stated that the Labour Day project is a step in the right direction, as the sidewalk was critical for the safety of the children in the community.
“Is a long time it (sidewalk) fi go up because you have kids that live around here, so more time they are out here playing… and you see a car just cut off and drive in… and we don’t even see the car; we have to just bawl out. So, putting in place the sidewalk and planting back the flowers dem, it is going to be a beautiful sight,” Mrs. Boyd said.