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The power of partnership - Clarendon the first of seven municipal corporations to benefit from ICDP initiative

Published:Monday | November 16, 2020 | 12:07 AMOlivia Brown/Gleaner Writer
Councillor Winston Maragh (second left), mayor of May Pen, accepts the keys to a 4X4 Double Cab Pickup from Omar Sweeney (centre), managing director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), during the handover ceremony of equipment and a motor vechile
Nathaniel Stewart
Councillor Winston Maragh (second left), mayor of May Pen, accepts the keys to a 4X4 Double Cab Pickup from Omar Sweeney (centre), managing director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), during the handover ceremony of equipment and a motor vechile at the Clarendon Municipal Corporation on November 13 under the Integrated Community Development Project. Also in photograph are Homer Davis (left), state minister in the Ministry of Local Government and Rurual Development; Shunelle Nevers, senior development officer, JSIF; and Ven Winston Thomas, archdeacon, Mandville Region of Anglican Church.

The Clarendon Municipal Corporation on Friday received a vehicle and equipment valued at $11.7 million under the Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP), implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF). The project, under component 3 of the ICDP, is geared at commmunity development and institutional strengthening of government agencies.

JSIF’s Managing Director Omar Sweeney noted that Clarendon is the first of seven municipal corporations to benefit under the initiative. Addressing the gathering at the handover ceremony on the Clarendon Municipal Corporation’s grounds, Sweeney said, “As we seek to develop the country and communities, we also have to seek to provide strengthening to government services, by providing various services.”

Speaking with The Gleaner, Sweeney noted that four Clarendon communities, namely York Town, Bucknor, Canaan Heights and Treadlight, have also benefited in the areas of infrastructural development, utility regularisation and skills training under the ICDP.

“We call these communities the ‘knife-edge’ communities because depending on what happens, they either fall forward or backward, so we identify these communities on the basis that investment was necessary that they fall forward. From what we saw, if government or state resources were not applied, they would have gone in the wrong direction.”

The ICDP, which was launched in 2014, is expected to end in May 2021.

Sustainability goal

Shunelle Nevers, senior social development officer at JSIF, told The Gleaner that, “JSIF does not stay in the communities. We come, do an intervention and then we leave. It’s very important that the parish council is adequately supported so they can take care of the infrastructure we’ve given. It’s really about sustainability.

“In Clarendon alone, we have done a lot of infrastructural development so we need the parish council to be able to take on the infrastructure. This is about technical assistance and building their capacity, “ said Nevers.

Homer Davis, minister of state in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, described the initiatives as a successful partnership. He added that the investment will enhance the work of local authorities.

“Today is a great reminder of the power of partnership in making good things possible. The project is a profound manifestation of partnership,” he said.

Mayor of May Pen Winston Maragh said, “JSIF has been helping the parish of Clarendon for a number of years. We have gotten buildings and other infrastructure from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and we continue to partner with them. “

Maragh, also the councillor for the Rocky Point division, lauded JSIF for the construction of a market in the renowned fishing community.

Donated equipment include desktop computers, drones, GIS handheld tablets and plotter for scanning and blueprints.