Community leaders ace leadership course
Published:Saturday | April 30, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Discovery Bay, St Ann:THE ACTING executive director of the Social Development Commission (SDC), Dwayne Vernon, has encouraged community representatives in Noranda Bauxite's operating area in St Ann to work in partnership with Noranda to maintain mutual understanding and support between the company and the public.
Vernon was speaking on Thursday at a function held at the Noranda Sports Club in Discovery Bay at which 24 community representatives were presented with certificates of completion of an SDC leadership training seminar conducted in March.
The course was structured to provide training for community leadership development, and included areas in strategic and action planning, communication, teamwork and meeting management.
The representatives are a part of the Noranda Community Council which operates as a forum for facilitating communication between Noranda and its operating area communities, focusing on a range of community development projects in education, agriculture, sports, and youth development.
special economic projects
Vernon also commended Noranda on an earlier announcement made in the meeting by Public Relations Superintendent Kent Skyers that the company will be developing a number of special economic assistance projects with the council this year under the leadership of council representatives.
Skyers said that these will include small-scale poultry rearing, goat farming, greenhouse technology, and micro enterprise projects, all of which would require meticulous documentation and follow-up to ensure sustainability, income and employment generation from the projects in the host communities.
Noranda Jamaica's President Pansy Johnson added her congratulations to the council on its constructive approach to community building and encouraged the group to work towards their stated objective of forming a non-governmental organisation and establishing a community development fund.