JN Foundation to rehabilitate schools on Labour Day
THE JONATHAN Grant High School and Spanish Town Primary and Infant School in St Catherine will benefit from structural and aesthetic improvements on Labour Day. The work will be spearheaded by the JN Foundation in collaboration with other companies and organisations in The Jamaica National Group.
Onyka Barrett Scott, general manager of JN Foundation, said that work at these schools will include the painting of pedestrian crossings and kerb walls; drain cleaning, debushing and beautification of sidewalk areas.
“These schools were selected in line with the national programme, which will focus on child road safety, under the theme ‘Child Safety … it’s you, it’s me, it’s all a we’,” she said.
Barrett Scott explained that work at Jonathan Grant High School will continue after Labour Day, under the ongoing ‘X-Marks the Spot’, School Crosswalk Safety Campaign, which is being spearheaded by the JN Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Jamaica; FIA and the Abertis Foundation.
The improvement activities will include upgrading of the schools’ infrastructure; the erection of signage for bus lay-bys; pedestrians gates; as well as the widening and paving of sidewalks.
PARTNERSHIP
The JN Foundation and UNICEF will also partner with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport in its Labour Day activities at three educational institutions – Papine High School in St Andrew; Holland Primary School in St Elizabeth; and Fair Prospect Primary in Portland.
Papine High School will benefit from the installation of signs; installation of concrete seats in designated areas; painted pedestrian crosswalks and kerb walls; as well as a chain-link fence.
At Holland and Fair Prospect primary schools, employees of the JN Group locations within the parishes of St Elizabeth and Portland, respectively, along with representatives of the JN Bank Member Advisory Councils and Act!on Jamaica volunteers,will paint pedestrian crossings and kerb walls; install signs and carry out general beautification of the school’s property.
Meanwhile, Denham Town Primary School on Spanish Town Road, which is one of 18 schools that will receive improvement activities under the X Marks the Spot project within the next three years, was selected by the Urban Development Corporation as their corporate Labour Day project. With support from the JN Foundation, they will be executing remedial work at the school in keeping with the national theme.
Barrett Scott said that the JN Foundation welcomed the opportunity to partner with the Government and its agency on Labour Day; and commended the elevation of road safety on to the national platform.
She noted that, over the past decade, some 70,000 traffic crashes have occurred within 100 metres of school zones across the country. As a result, some 120 children lost their lives from these crashes, within the past five years; and a significant number of youngsters have suffered from life-changing injuries.
‘These schools were selected in line with the national programme, which will focus on child road safety ... ‘