Edward Seaga was among the proud guests present at the opening of the Seprod Youth Centre. Seaga reiterated the importance of investing in youth and why it was important to provide resources and opportunities for them.

Published Monday, April 26, 1965

Seprod Youth Centre opened

- Policy of government to invest in youth – Hon Edward Seaga

Gleaner Sports Reporter

DRAWING INFERENCE from the successes of the Victors Youth Club’s dance band and the accomplishment of the Bugle and Drum Corps of the Western Kingston Youth Club, the Hon Edward Seaga, minister of development and welfare, outlined some ways in which youth centres can be beneficial to the Jamaican community.

The minister was speaking at the Seprod Youth Centre, Producers Road, on Saturday, April 24, shortly before he declared the centre open.

It was the second opening of a youth centre in the city. The first centre was opened at Tinson Park in 1964 and the third is expected to come into full use at the Town Moor soon.  Four centres have already come into use in the country parishes.

Seaga said that the Bugle Corps had achieved a high standard of performance with the volunteer help of Special Constable Keith Morgan, a man who he said had not received any special training.

This, Seaga said, “is an example of what can be achieved if people will give time”.  Seaga offered another example in the Victors Youth Club dance band.  These boys, he said, had got together and by hard work and constant practice had reached the standard of performance.

He said the policy of Government was to invest in youth.  “If we invest in youth,” he said, “there is plenty to be gained.”

The minister expressed special thanks to Felix Fox, the managing director of Seprod Ltd, who had allowed the centre to be established at the Seprod Sports Club, to be shared by the children of the area with the staff of that company.

Thanks also went to contractor David Elliott who had constructed a large multipurpose court on the premises.  The centre has facilities for table tennis, cricket, football, netball, volleyball and basketball.

For the present, the centre will be used by all the children in the area. Seaga said that he hoped that in the near future the children will become enrolled in clubs to keep the spirit of competition.  Seaga said that the proper use and care of the centre would result in its expansion for social and recreational activities.

The Hon Edwin Allen, minister of education, implored the youngsters to lift their minds out of the mud and to aspire, and assured them that all good citizens of Jamaica loved them.  He said that he could not be convinced that there was not one child in that gathering that would not be a future pope or minister or governor-general.

“The sky is the limit,” he concluded.

The programme of the opening function was punctuated by frequent musical performances by the two bands between speeches, especially to the delight of the younger people.

Other speakers were Thelma P. Campbell, island supervisor of Youth Development Agency, who presided over the function, and the Rev Father Louis Grenier, SJ, who blessed the centre. E.G. Lewis, senior youth clubs organizer, Mr Fox and H. B. Perry, the youth clubs organizer who will be in charge of the centre, who moved the vote of thanks.

Present were KSAC Commissioner Eustace Bird, National Sports chairman Herbert Macdonald, and Youth Development’s Roy Matthews.

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