CLAREMONT, St. Ann:
MANAGING DIRECTOR of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Scar-lette Gillings, said that although the organisation usually spend a maximum of $14 million on any given project, they were actually spending between $8 million to $11 million because of a shortage of funds.
Miss Gillings was the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the St. Ann Association of Branch Societies of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) at the Brown's Town Anglican Church Hall last week.
She said the JSIF would be concentrating on roads and water and cutting back on building of community centres, with Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Mary and the inner-city areas being the parishes of focus.
The managing director said the JSIF has 2,000 applications for assistance, but priority would be given to the most needy areas.
Referring to assistance to farmers across the island, Miss Gillings said 53 road projects were approved at a value of $357.7 million and more than 90,000 persons, mostly farmers, had benefited from these road improvements.
She said road projects funded by the JSIF had to meet strict criteria. "When we are looking at rural feeder road projects, it is a stipulation that the road has to run through a farming district and this has to be proven by RADA. So we have the farmers at heart whenever a road has to be rehabilitated and upgraded," she said.
Miss Gillings said the JSIF was working with the Social Development Commission (SDC) to make sure communities were organised. "We can't finance everything. Road and water supply will get priority," she said.
As it relates to agro-processing projects, she said the JSIF provided assistance with equipment and training, but not capital. "We have not been successful with agro-processing as we would like," she said, adding that up to $800,000 could be provided in financing for equipment.
Miss Gillings said an analysis was carried out as there were complaints that the JSIF was not assisting agro-processing projects, but it should be seen as a business which was profitable, hence marketing, training, capital, raw material and transportation costs should be in place.
She said the JSIF has assisted the JAS to carry out research, improve membership as well as fund-raising efforts. Noting that it was a rough time for farmers, she implored them to "hold the faith, pay attention to technology and hang in there."
