Revive unattached youth initiative

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: Julian Robinson
CONSTITUENCY:  St Andrew South East

Member of Parliament for St Andrew South East, Julian Robinson, is urging the Government to continue the National Unattached Youth Programme (NUYP), which started under the previous administration.

He said of all the programmes in his constituency, the NUYP has had the greatest impact on unattached youth.

More than 150 young persons participated in the programme that has an apprenticeship component.

“We established a partnership with Sutherland Global and a number of those who participated got jobs after completing their apprenticeship,” Robinson said in his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate.

“We took 155 young persons who otherwise would probably have been engaged in anti-social behaviour and put them in a one-year course of study. They got certification and on the job training.”

He said, to date, the programme has trained more than 2,800 persons.

Robinson told his parliamentary colleagues that since the change of administration he has not received word from the government about the continuation of the programme.

“I would like to urge the Government to ensure that this programme continues. If we are talking about a fight against criminality, we have to start here. It’s not just resources for the police, it has to be resources that prevent people from getting into criminality.”

The MP also divulged plans to erect a number of small shops to cater for tourists and other persons who visit the Bob Marley statue across from the National Stadium.

With plans for a sports museum and concert hall to be established near the Bob Marley statue, Robinson said: “What you want to do is to capture persons who either come to the sports museum or Bob Marley statue. They can buy something related to reggae music, they can buy something related to sports and they can eat some Jamaican food.”

 

MP shares vision for St James Central

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: Heroy Clarke
CONSTITUENCY: St James Central

First time Member of Parliament for St James Central, Heroy Clarke, said he has a vision for his constituency that is built on four pillars – early childhood education, learn and earn programme, constituency cooperative society and social infrastructural development.

In his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives, Clarke said he has been pulling together the necessary resources to achieve his targeted goals.
The MP said he will focus on education at all levels but noted that special emphasis will be placed on early childhood education.

He stated that he will be engaging several tertiary institutions such as the University of Technology, the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Maritime Institute, the Heart Trust/NTA, among others, to promote programmes which are in demand in his constituency.
He said the Glendevon Centre of Excellence would be restored shortly to target at-risk youth by getting them involved in skills training programmes.

Clarke said remedial education would be provided for others who are unable to access the skills training programme at this time.

On the question of entrepreneurship, the MP told his parliamentary colleagues that he has been having dialogue with a number of interest groups to conduct training for persons who are desirous of starting micro businesses.

Turning to the issue of crime, Clarke said the effort to stamp out this problem in Montego Bay must be sustained, noting that he supports the deployment of the security forces to quell the recent flare up of violence in a number of communities.