Hutchinson commends JSIF for its rural development projects

Reiterating the importance of water to life, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon J.C. Hutchinson, lauded the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) for its continued contribution to the development of rural communities. He was addressing residents at the re-commissioning of the recently upgraded Trenail District Water Supply System in St. Elizabeth on December 7, 2017.

The $23.79-m infrastructural upgrading project is one of several projects that have been handed over by JSIF in St. Elizabeth recently. These include a multi-use agro-processing incubator at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority Office and a new pump at the National Irrigation Commission Pump Station located in the New Forest/Duff House Agro-Park.

The Trenail District Water Supply Project included installation of a chain-link perimeter fence, rehabilitation to the existing 80,000 gallon tank and rehabilitation and extension of the catchment pad. A sand filter and chlorination system were also constructed with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank’s Basic Needs Trust Fund. Some 3,400 residents from the communities of Trenail, Retirement, Hominy Hall, Bethsalem and Maroon Town will benefit from this water supply system.
While noting that St. Elizabeth is the bread basket of the country, Minister Hutchinson congratulated the farmers for their contribution to agricultural production even as he encouraged them to become involved in the Scotch Bonnet Pepper Programme now being implemented by the Ministry.

The minister explained that through this programme, farmers will be provided with the inputs such as seedlings, fertiliser and spray upfront, while the farmers would be responsible for land preparation. The farmers will also be provided with purchasers for the pepper. The cost of the inputs would be deducted from the sale of the pepper and the farmers would receive the remaining funds.
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