Youth mayors to get $500,000

Youth Mayors selected across Jamaica as part of Local Government and Community Development month in November, are once again to be given $500,000 each to do a sustainable project which is to be completed during their tenure.

Additionally, infirmaries in each parish will receive $700,000 for a project to uplift the facility, according to Mayor of Port Maria Richard Creary.

During an interview with The Gleaner, Creary said the youth mayors will each be required to do a sustainable project, "one that, in many years to come, we should be able to point to it and say, 'this was done by the youth mayor for 2018'."

He said the youth mayor's project for St Mary would be identified at a later date. Youth mayors are usually selected during November with the aim of integrating and sensitising the youth of Jamaica about the operations of local government, and has been one of the major highlights of the month since the concept was introduced 23 years ago.

Creary further said that the St Mary Municipal Corporation will also be focusing on the infirmary and the matron's quarters during the month.

"Each infirmary was given $700,000 by Minister McKenzie to do a project, so we will be creating a walkway. Our infirmary is pretty close to the hospital, but in order to carry residents across, we have to take them all the way around on the road, so we're creating a walkway that will have wheelchair access to use the back gate to enter into the hospital."

Regarding the matron's quarters, he said the goal is to return the premises to a habitable state, as the matron has had to be housed in rented premises because of the poor condition of the facility.

Meanwhile, the mayor is appealing to members of the public to volunteer their time in assisting the corporation with the various projects that are planned for implementation during Local Government and Community Development month.