FARMING IN South East St. Mary is expected to get a boost following the completion and handing over of three road rehabilitation projects by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).
JSIF provided more than $26 million to repair approximately 8.37 km of roadway for farming communities in the Belfield district. Major repairs were carried out on the Jubilee Over River, Coffee Piece and Belfield roads. The work included resurfacing and the construction of drainage structures, kerbs and channels.
All three roadways are considered "high priority" by the Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) and Eastern Jamaica Agricultural Support Project (EJASP) for the enhancement of agricultural production within the parish. The roads serve communities which are involved in the production of cocoa, coffee, citrus and vegetables. RADA estimates that economic returns from agricultural production in Belfield can increase by as much as 50 per cent now that the roads have been repaired.
JSIF's Operations Manager, Omar Sweeney, explained that the poor road conditions had "dealt a blow" to farmers in the Belfield area. "The bad roads have made it very expensive for farmers to transport their crops. It has also adversely affected efficiency, causing a high level of waste and spoilage," he said at a ceremony which was held recently to mark the completion of the road projects.
Mr. Sweeney also said that the Belfield Road Projects represented a continuation of JSIF's Rural Road Rehabilitation Programme. The programme forms part of the organisation's strategy to alleviate poverty, by developing community infrastructure which it can assist in economic development.
In the last six years, $790 million has been invested in the rehabilitation of rural feeder roads. "This money has funded major repairs to more than 65 roads which are critical to rural farming communities," he said.
He added, "Earlier this month, we signed two contracts, each valued at over $8 million dollars, for repairs to the Fraserwood to Marlborough and Fraserwood to Hopewell roads in Central St. Mary. In the case of those two projects, RADA estimates that agricultural production can increase by as much as 30 per cent once the roads are completed."
