Christmas work coming - St Thomas Parish Council

Up to 3,000 persons could get short-term employment from the St Thomas Parish Council under its Christmas work programme, but there is no decision yet on when the jobs will be allocated.

According to Hubert Williams, chairman of the Finance and Commercial Services Committee of the council, they are unaware of the amount of money to be spent on the Christmas community project as they have to wait for the allocation from the Ministry of Local Government.

But Williams says there is a basic idea of how many persons will be employed.

"Whenever it's Christmas, we try our best to reach out to as many people as possible. Each councillor usually employs an average of 300 workers, therefore, approximately 3,000 people are given work throughout the 10 divisions," said Williams.

He added that throughout the year, the council performs the usual drain cleaning and road maintenance, but its focus is mainly on the beautification of the parish during the Christmas period.

Secretary/manager of the council, Errol Greene, also confirmed that there will be the usual allocation of work to community members during the Christmas season.

"The members of parliament are doing Christmas work and the council has plans for Christmas work, but as of right now I can't say how much is going to be spent or the scope of work that will be done because we have not yet received information on the parochial allotment for December," Greene told The Sunday Gleaner.

He said the council would fund the work with the money it receives from the Local Government Ministry and the December allocation from the Parochial Fund.

According to Greene, he could not yet say how much will be spent as the allocated amount changes from month to month.