St Bess towns want upgrade
Some residents of Santa Cruz and Junction in St Elizabeth are calling for more sanitary conveniences to be erected in the major towns.
“The absence of public sanitary convenience is one of the biggest issues right now. Santa Cruz [smells]because we do not have public conveniences. We need to address this matter,” one resident said.
Similar sentiments were expressed by residents of Junction. They were speaking at the inaugural meetings of the JN Circle, held at the JN Bank, Santa Cruz and Junction branches, recently. The residents say that they want the matter of public conveniences to be addressed by their new service club. In addition, they want JN Circle to focus on issues of illiteracy, congestion on sidewalks, recreational spaces and green areas.
The JN Circle is a network of JN members and customers of subsidiary companies within the JN Group, who form friendships to improve their own lives and positively impact institutions, organisations and activities in their respective communities.
One member observed that some males, especially among the elderly, have low levels of literacy. According to a 1999 Literacy Survey, the parish of St Elizabeth is reported to have the lowest literacy levels in the country.
Chevanese Peters, project coordinator of the JN Foundation, told participants in the meeting that one of the mandates of the JN Circle was to advocate and facilitate dialogue to nurture positive behaviour change and improve citizens’ awareness about matters relating to their personal safety and security. She advised the residents of both towns not to only rant about the issues, but to put an action plan in place to address them.
“First, we are going to consult with the persons who are in charge of the town because if we want to put things in place, we need to find out the possibility of doing so. You set up a meeting with the relevant authorities; point out that this is an issue and we want to work with you to address it,” she said.