WHITEMAN
CABINET HAS given approval for the establishment of the Spanish Town Redevelopment Company (SPARCOM), which will manage the restoration of the town and its environs.
Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman, made the disclosure at Monday's weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
Senator Whiteman said that SPARCOM is comprised of a mixture of public and private companies with the objective of "arresting the urban decay, which is settling" in the town.
CULTURAL PRODUCT
He said the company would also be improving the physical conditions and the economic opportunities within the town through the development of a cultural product.
Recently, the Old Capital has experienced several violent upheavals, with these incidents linked to the deaths of two gang leaders.
On Monday, Senator Whiteman pointed out that the establishment of the company to develop the town was timely. "I believe that the time is right, (which will) seek to make that difference and this body is being put in place to facilitate that," he said.
"I think it is important that the general community of Spanish Town should know that (the town) is not a forgotten city," he said.
COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES
The redevelopment will include a comprehensive community awareness programme designed specifically for 21 communities in and around the town.
They include Tawes Pen, March Pen Road, Africa, Job Lane, Shelter Rock and Windsor Road.
Senator Whiteman said that the project would be done over a three-year period, but refused to divulge how much money the Government would be contributing to the redevelopment. He also declined to state when the programme would commence.
