THE NATIONAL People's Cooperative Bank of Jamaica is celebrating 100 years of existence and, to mark this significant milestone, a church service was held at the Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, last Sunday.

The Parish Council Bank's 100 years of commitment and service to residents of rural communities have spanned far and wide over the period. In his message, Chairman of the board of the bank, Bernal Neil, said the main objective and focus of the bank was to provide economic and banking opportunities in the rural areas.

The PC Bank was started in Christiana, Manchester, in April 1905 by the late J.T. Palache. After 100 years, the bank has 40 branches islandwide, serving approximately 100,000 residents.

­ Rayon Dyer

QUICK ACTION by citizens foiled a robbery attempt by two gunmen who posed as passengers to rob a licensed taxi operator on Thursday afternoon.

A motorist saw the attempted robbery and made an alarm. The residents of the area then chased the would-be robbers. One of the gunmen escaped while the other was chopped and shot. The police took the man to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he has been hospitalised under police guard. A .38 pistol and two rounds were found.

­ Marlene McPherson

RAINS ASSOCIATED with Hurricane Wilma have left sections of St. Thomas facing serious problems from rising waters which, according to locals, is a problem they have not been faced with before.

Residents of Phillipsfield in the Yallahs area are therefore appealing to the authorities to help them with some mechanism to mitigate any tragedy which they fear is inevitable if the current situation is not addressed. Residents have also complained about the lack of appropriate response from their Member of Parliament, James Robertson.

­ Arthur Green

MAYOR OF Savanna-la-Mar Delford Morgan recently announced that the parish council would undertake a rehabilitation programme to fix the damaged roadways before the Christmas holiday.

He was speaking at the monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Parish Council held at the St. George's Anglican Church Hall, Savanna-la-Mar, on Thursday, October 13. He pointed to roadways within the town, such as Lewis, Segree, and East streets, and Seaton Crescent, which have sustained extensive damage.

Other affected areas outside of the town include the Grange Hill division, Negril division and Little London division and in the eastern section, Bethel Town, Darliston and Whitehouse divisions.

­ Junior Grandison

THE THIRD annual South Manchester sweet potato festival was held at new Broughton yesterday. President of the South Manchester Sweet Potato Growers Association, Dundee Hewitt, told JIS News that the event was a good way of galvanising support from the local farming community. There were demonstrations on the use of the versatile sweet potato.

­ JIS NEWS

MANAGING DIRECTOR of the National Housing Trust (NHT), Earl Samuels, said that the housing concerns in the parish of Hanover would be addressed.

"Over the next five years, the NHT will be promoting the addition of some 7,500 new solutions to the housing stock in the parish," he said.

Mr. Samuels was addressing an investment forum for the parish, held recently at the Grand Lido Hotel in Negril. According to Mr. Samuels, a demand survey carried out by the NHT with regard to housing needs in Hanover, revealed that there were three preferred areas for housing developments in the parish: Point, Green Island and Cousins Cove. He pointed out that the NHT owned about 400 acres of land in the Point area, and had recently acquired an additional 700 acres from the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC) in that same area.

­ JIS NEWS