Restoration of Lionel Town Hospital to begin
LIONEL TOWN, CLARENDON:
Prime Minister, Bruce Golding has been reassured that restoration of damaged sections of the Lionel Town Hospital in Clarendon is soon to begin on a phased basis.
Minister of Health and MP for South Eastern Clarendon, Rudyard Spencer, gave this assurance on the weekend, during a tour of the hospital facilities by the Prime Minister and other government officials.
Minister Spencer said his ministry had identified some $17 million to begin a phased restoration of damaged sections of the hospital.
This is in addition to some $5 million being spent to repair the kitchen and dining areas, which were damaged by Hurricane Dean.
Mr. Spencer advised the Prime Minister that priority areas had been identified for repairs to get the hospital up and running in a more efficient manner.
This will include repairs to the wards, theatres and walkways. Efforts are also to be made to restore the health centres and clinics to reduce some of the pressure on the hospital.
The Lionel Town Hospital, which serves several communities including May Pen, Portland Cottage, Mitchell Town, and Salt River, has been without a surgeon since 1997.
- Contributed
Jamaican women's centre gets boost
ST. ANDREW:
The Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) was last Thursday presented with a $250,000, (£2,150) donation from the United Kingdom (UK)-based charity, Jamaica Society Leeds.
Jamaica's High Commissioner to London, Burchell Whiteman and wife Jolene, handed over the cheque to WCJF director, Beryl Weir, at the foundation's Trafalgar Road offices.
The donation from the UK charity will go into the foundation's welfare fund, which will assist in paying the fees of participants taking Caribbean Examination Council tests this year, as well as graduates of the programmes, who are pursuing tertiary studies.
Last year, the foundation helped to pay the tuition fees for five students, who were attending teachers' colleges, while three received similar benefits in 2006.
Established in 1978, the WCJF assists girls 17 years and under, who have dropped out of school due to pregnancy. Some 1,500 pregnant teenagers are assisted annually, through the foundation's seven centres and eight outreach stations islandwide.
- JIS
Church celebrates its 64th anniversary
RUNAWAY BAY, ST. ANN:
The Holiness Christian Church Inc. will be holding its 64th Annual Conference on January 18 - 19 at the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel,St. Ann.
The theme for the conference is "Walking in Righteousness - Advancing Holiness Through Vision, Growth, Development & Ministry".
The conference will commence with a grand opening ceremony on Friday, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Guest speakers for the event will be Mr. Robert Levy, C.D., president and CEO of the Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd; Mayor Ivan Anderson, mayor of St. Ann and a representative from the Ministry of Tourism.
- Contributed
Disaster committee makes big plans
ST. MARY:
The St. Mary Disaster Committee has planned a number of events to mark January as Earthquake Awareness Month.
St. Mary Disaster Coordinator, Yolande Williams, said that the month would feature a special week of observances from Sunday until Saturday, January 19.
Last Sunday the first of the events took place with a church service at the New Testament Church of God in Trinity, Port Maria.
The official launching ceremony was held yesterday at the St. Mary Parish Library.
Other events for the month include earthquake awareness seminars for business operators in Port Maria and Annotto Bay at the Port Maria Civic Centre on January 22, and at the Catholic Church Hall in Annotto Bay on the 29th, respectively.
An earthquake simulation exercise is also being planned for Port Maria, and representatives of the St. Mary Fire Department, will be making visits to a number of schools in the parish during the month.
Those schools that will be visited include Port Maria Primary, Annotto Bay High, St. Mary Technical, Brimmervale High and Hampstead All-age.
- JIS
Boston Community Centre renamed
BOSTON, PORTLAND:
The Boston Community Centre in Portland has been renamed the Dalbert Sharpe Community Centre, in honour of the resident, who was instrumental in its development.
The decision to rename the facility was spearheaded by the Boston Old Student's Association Benevolent Society, which has assumed responsibility for the management of the centre for the past 17 years.
Mr. Sharpe, who is a member of the organisation, is also the benefactor of a number of projects and programmes in the Boston community.
At the renaming ceremony held at the community centre on Thursday, January 3, tributes were paid to Mr. Sharpe for his work in making the facility a reality and for promoting the spirit of volunteerism in the community.
In giving the main address, former regional director for the Ministry of Education's region 2, Beryl Jengelly, commended the Boston Old Student's Association for honouring Mr. Sharpe, and for its work in advancing community development.
Congratulating Mr. Sharpe, she said the spirit of volunteerism he has displayed is worthy of emulation by other persons in the society.
Mr. Sharpe, in his reply, said he is humbled by the honour and promised to continue to work for the development of Boston.
- JIS
Double murder in Mandeville
MANDEVILLE, MANCHESTER:
Despite the Mandeville's 'closed to crime' initiative, two persons lost their lives to gunmen at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday, while going home.
Dead are Henley Gordon, 49-year-old security guard of 18 McKinley Road and Delroy Morris, 34-year-old pump attendant of 10A Wint Road, Mandeville.
According to the Mandeville Police, residents heard what sounded like gunshots in the vicinity of Brumalia Gardens area and called the police.
When the lawmen arrived they found the two men suffering from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
The men were taken to the Mandeville Regional Hospital where they succumbed to their wounds.
Both men worked at Bird's Service Station a short distance away. No motive for the killings has been established a number of robberies and burglaries have taken place in that area over the last three weeks.
- Angelo Laurence
15-year-old drowns
Frankfield, Clarendon:
15-year-old Milton Campbell of Frankfield, Clarendon drowned in a swimming pool at a home in the Community on Sunday evening.
According to Police reports, Campbell, who was a student of the Trout Hall All-Age School was with a group of friends in a pool at a home in Frankfield when Campbell went missing.
An alarm was made and Campbell was removed from the pool by his friends.
He was rushed to the Chapelton Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Frankfield Police are investigating the circumstances under which Campbell drowned.
- Dwight Nelson
Clarendon murders continue
Hayles Field, Clarendon:
As the murder toll in Clarendon continues to rise this year, the latest victim is 23-year-old, Melvis McLean of Hayles Field, Racecourse, Clarendon.
The Constabulary Communications Network reports are that McLean was walking along the main road along with a group of men at about 9:30 on Sunday night when explosions were heard.
The Police were summoned and the bullet-riddled body of McLean was found lying in a pool of blood.
The Scene was processed and his body removed to the morgue. The Exeter Police are investigating.
- Dwight Nelson
