Ground was broken to begin construction of the new Morant Bay Urban Centre in Springfield, St. Thomas.
The 365,000 square feet property will house the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation; a town hall; conference centre; justice square, which will include a family court and parish court; tax office; Registrar General’s Department (RGD); and the Passport, Citizenship & Immigration Agency (PICA).
Also included in the plan are spaces for financial institutions; food court; library; medical centre; wellness centre; day care; space for tertiary-level institutions; shopping facilities; purpose-built manufacturing and industrial space for small, medium and large enterprises; museum; recreational park; and a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facility.
The development, being implemented by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), is expected to provide approximately 3,000 jobs for the people of St. Thomas.
Continued Improvement in Service Delivery
• A Service Excellence Policy was developed that sets out the core principles, values, standards, strategies, and account-ability mechanism to promote and institutionalise service excellence across government.
The policy falls under the Service Excellence Programme, a component of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernisation Programme.
• The Cabinet Office handed over framed copies of vision and mission statements to various ministries, departments and agencies throughout the year in a bid to modernise and revamp customer service delivery in public institutions.
JSIF Constructs School
• JSIF constructed an infant department at the Barrett Town Primary School in St. James at a cost of $34 million, through funding by the European Union (EU) under its Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP IV). JSIF also renovated the school’s kitchen.
Bringing Hope to Fire Victims
• Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness handed over keys to residents of 194 Bay Farm Road in St. Andrew, who were dislocated after a fire destroyed their home and resulted in the death of a one-year-old boy. The five-bedroom structure was reconstructed under the housing component of the HOPE Programme.