THE MONTEGO Bay Street and Homeless Rehabilitation Programme, which is aimed at empowering persons living on the streets so that they can be re-integrated into society, was officially launched recently at the Montego Bay Civic Centre.The project is being implemented by the St. James Parish Council, in collaboration with the Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI).
CUMI operates the rehabilitation programme from its Brandon Hill location where it conducts sessions designed to help street people develop self-will and a positive attitude to work. Already, seven persons have been selected for employment at the National Solid Waste Management Authority, where they will work as street cleaners.
Inspector of poor for the parish, Jeremiah Dehaney, who is also the coordinator of the project, said new employees would be paid fortnightly, and a portion of the money would go towards their general upkeep, especially those who use the night shelter.
"A portion of this will also be given to them for pocket money and we will be establishing a savings account for each individual, so that when we are ready to launch into the next phase of the programme we may be able to say to the family, they have earned this sum, take it and see what you can do to help them," Mr. Dehaney said.
