Some fifteen (15) youth comprising males and females within the Rose Town Community are set to benefit from the opportunity of honing their skills through a block making training initiative.
The block making training will be facilitated in partnership with the HEART/NSTA Trust and at the end of the training persons will be issued with the requisite certification.
The project is being implemented through the support of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP), which is funded by the European Union to the value of Three Million Jamaican Dollars (J$3,000,000).
The initiative is also supported by the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Community Renewal Programme.
The announcement was made recently at the launch of the block factory project, attended by the Member of Parliament, Mark Golding, Ambassador Marianne Van Steen – Head of the European Delegation to Jamaica, JSIF’s Managing Director, Omar Sweeney, Representatives of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Representatives of the Social Development Commission, Members of the Rose Town Benevolent Society and other key stakeholders.
The European Union as the largest grant funding international agency in the Caribbean continues to underscore the importance of supporting community initiatives.
Ambassador Van Steen in addressing the audience posited “The European Union is happy to support these types of initiatives because they impact lives in a meaningful way and contribute to the government’s development goals. These community-based projects allow residents the opportunity to actively participate in deciding what their priorities are and designing initiatives together to achieve them.”
Meanwhile, Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, Omar Sweeney, added that;” this initiative will bolster the ability of the beneficiaries to utilise their skills in a productive way in order to gain employment and generate income opportunities”. He also said that after training, persons will be able to supply their community with the necessary raw materials for building.
For his part, Member of Parliament, Mark Golding, in his address applauded all the key stakeholders for making the initiative a reality. He also urged the community members to work together with the stakeholders in order to ensure a successful completion of the project.
The project will be supervised under the guidance of Errol Jackson, a longstanding community member and President of the Rose Town Benevolent Society.