Thu | May 2, 2024

Opportunity for progress

Walker says FHC plans to build permanent office in St Thomas is progressive

Published:Friday | December 17, 2021 | 7:18 AMShanna Monteith/Gleaner Writer
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Robin Levy (left), chief executive officer, Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League, ask questions of Andre Josephs (right), contractor for the new branch office in Morant Bay, St Thomas, during a visit of the site after the official groundbreaking cerem
Ian Allen
Robin Levy (left), chief executive officer, Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League, ask questions of Andre Josephs (right), contractor for the new branch office in Morant Bay, St Thomas, during a visit of the site after the official groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday. Looking on are Claudette Gilzine (second left), member of the credit union, Roxann Linton (second right), chief executive officer, First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union Limited.
From left: O’Neil Grant, chairman, Board of Directors, First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union Limited and president, Jamaica Civil Service Association, Roxann Linton, chief executive officer, First Heritage Co-Operative Credit Union Limited, Claudette
Ian Allen
From left: O’Neil Grant, chairman, Board of Directors, First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union Limited and president, Jamaica Civil Service Association, Roxann Linton, chief executive officer, First Heritage Co-Operative Credit Union Limited, Claudette Gilzine, member of the credit union, Robin Levy, chief executive officer, Jamaica Co-Operative Credit Union League, during the official groundbreaking ceremony for their new branch office in Morant Bay, St Thomas, on Tuesday.
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Caretaker councillor for the Morant Bay division, Wilbert Walker, has described the promises of First Heritage Co-operative (FHC) Credit Union to build a permanent office in St Thomas as an opportunity for progress in the parish.

Walker was speaking on behalf of the member of parliament for Eastern St Thomas, Dr Michelle Charles, at Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony to signal the start of the project in Morant Bay.

Quoting FHC’s vision of expanding agriculture/micro and small business lending to assist farmers and cultivate entrepreneurship across rural Jamaica, the Jamaica Labour Party’s caretaker councillor said that the presence of the financial institution will represent ‘more money for every day juggling’ for residents.

“They have a vision for financing the visions of our parishioners who want to establish revenue generators for St Thomas. Further to this, they have not only talked but they have also demonstrated their commitment to growing the parish through various disbursement of funds in scholarship and grants and the primary and tertiary level to both members and non-members,” he said, adding that the event will be reported as one that was positively pivotal in the financial fabric of St Thomas.

In March 2015, the business and operations of the St Thomas Co-operative Credit Union Limited was transferred to FHC, a merger borne out of a mutual vision to offer financial assistance to farmers.

After serving the parish for some six years from a borrowed space, FHC will now establish a permanent office in Morant Bay at 2 Debtors Lane.

Speaking with The Gleaner, FHC’s Chief Executive Officer Roxann Linton shared that the decision to set up a stable home in St Thomas is a commitment to residents.

“We know the parish is poised for future growth and so we want to ensure that we are here to grow with the parish and our members. That commitment is unwavering and our extent of growth here has been because of the unstinting support of our members and other stakeholders. As we grow, we are looking to expand our team member base,” she said, noting that the initiative will also aid in job creation.

The FHC’s multistorey building is set to be ready by the end of 2022 and will see a continuation of the FHC’s offerings, including savings accounts and opportunities to borrow.

GREETINGS

Also bringing greetings at the groundbreaking ceremony were Chairman of FHC’s Board of Directors and President of the Jamaica Civil Service Association O’Neil Grant, and CEO of Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League Robin Levy.

Giving a nod of approval, past director of the credit union and resident of St Thomas, Michael James, commended the decision of FHC as an ‘excellent investment’ and a ‘needed additional economic lift’.

The elderly man, who shared that he remembers the plot of ground on which the building is to be erected as ‘breadfruit tree’, also noted that the new building that is being erected across from the Morant Bay Fire Station will also give the town a facelift.

According to him, “The finished product is going to represent one of the newest kind of architecture that is going to be around, so away from the products that the credit union offers in the Morant Bay environment, this is now going to become the crème de la crème of the town.”

shanna.monteith@gleanerjm.com