Residents of Scotts Hall, in St. Mary, are now benefitting from an upgraded water supply system, which was undertaken by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).
The facility was handed over to members of the community during a ceremony, held at the Scotts Hall Church of God, on November 5.
The upgrading, which was carried out at a cost of approximately $23 million, was completed in June 2008. Work involved the construction of two entombments, a water storage tank, the laying of pipelines, the re-laying of a distribution main and laterals within the community, connecting an incoming supply line from the entombment to the water storage tank, connecting an outgoing supply line from the water storage tank to the distribution main, and the installation of a water filtration system.
Approximately 1,075 residents of the Scotts Hall community are expected to benefit from the upgraded system.
Guest speaker at the ceremony, Parish Manager for the St. Mary Health Services, Dr. Isaac Brown, congratulated the JSIF and commended the residents of Scotts Hall for pooling their efforts to ensure the realisation of the project.
He observed that the community spirit displayed by the residents in planning and working on the project was a perfect demonstration of people power, which would serve as an excellent example for other communities to emulate.
Dr. Brown emphasised that the upgraded system was critical to the social and economic development of Scotts Hall and surrounding communities, and implored the residents to protect the facility.
In his address, Board Member of JSIF, Mr. Donovan Samuels, said the organisation was pleased to be associated with the project, adding that water projects represent a significant part of all the projects implemented by the organisation.
He expressed the hope that members of the Scotts Hall community would make use of the system and contribute to the further development of the community.
