Community development project launched for Canterbury

Canterbury community in Montego Bay, St James, is slated to benefit from a series of community development workshops, which are geared towards strengthening the community’s resilience as a public space.

The workshops, which will take place next month (June), are part of a collaborative effort between the Sandals Foundation, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the St James Municipal Corporation, were announced on Friday during a stakeholder meeting at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.

Shamona Whyte, the president of the Canterbury Ambassador Club, told The Gleaner following the meeting that she is anticipating that the project, valued at US$270,000 (J$41.8 million), will provide opportunities for young people in Canterbury to develop the capacity to change the community’s crime-afflicted reputation.

“For the family of Canterbury, as well as the Canterbury Ambassador Club, we greatly appreciate and welcome this initiative with open hearts. It will help to develop the area and to let us have more skilled individuals from our community being part of society, as well as to free ourselves from being stigmatised as part of a volatile area,” said Whyte.

GREAT UPLIFTMENT

“This initiative will bring great upliftment for the community, and it will help the upliftment of our youths. They will not be stigmatised in society to say they are coming from a volatile community, and so they are able to play their part equally in society,” added Whyte.

The planned development project for Canterbury will include the creation of a multipurpose community centre and a green public space, which will benefit the community’s approximately 1,800 residents. Skills development opportunities will also be made available for women and young people.

From June 14 to 28, nine workshops will be held at different locations, including Canterbury, to allow residents to pinpoint issues they want to see addressed in the community, such as waste management, flood mitigation, and security.

Karen Zacca, operations director for the Sandals Foundation, said that the Canterbury project is an extension of the foundation’s commitment to empowering residents in Montego Bay and surrounding communities.