Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner

Girls from the Holy Family Primary and Infant School participating in a peace march along Laws Street through the Southside community as part of the school's Girls' Day activities last year June. Residents of Southside and adjoining communities are now trying to improve the physical appearance of the areas. - File

PARADE GARDENS is one of those inner-city communities that people dread.

It is made up of the garrison enclaves of Tel-Aviv and South Side, areas that have traded bullets across a political divide for years.

Change is now under way in this central community, especially due to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Kingston Urban Renewal Programme (KURP), which is geared at recreating the smiling face of the central Kingston community.

Eliminating crime

"This programme came about as a project to help eliminate the crime and violence within this volatile area so as to give the people new hope," Dunstan Whittingham, chairman of the Parade Gardens Urban Renewal Council tells The Sunday Gleaner.

Urban renewal has been one of the catch phrases of the decade and it has seemingly taken on flesh.

In this part of downtown Kingston, where many houses are not only derelict but are often overcrowded, people are often forced to endure harsh conditions. Drains are often unclean and garbage is often left uncollected.

However, KURP, which is powered by a US$1.2 million grant, is intended to bring a lasting difference to the community.

Mr. Whittingham, who is also chairman of the Central Kingston Task Team, a community anti-crime initiative, says there is no doubt that a complete renewal and can be achieved and sustained.

"All of this means upliftment for the community. It has created a lot of employment for the people inside there and the facelift will help the community image," he says.

Central Kingston is slated to benefit under Government's inner-city housing programme. This programme involves the building of low-income houses for the underprivileged.

Surveys have already been done in the community and the process of land acquisition is now taking place. The Hanover Street corridor, where many abandoned buildings are located, is being earmarked as one area for the building of these houses.

Transformation

The transformation, however, will come in stages. The Kingston Restoration Company (KRC), which is the implementing agency for KURP in Parade Gardens, has already erected signs in the community and have also been involved in clearing and the cleaning of drains.

"The community has been the rock behind the project," project manager Dayle Bent said.

The Sunday Gleaner has been told that a major phase of KURP will involve the training of many persons from the community in areas of mechanics, barbering, hairdressing and other skills. Mr. Whittingham says that when this is realised it will not only put money in these residents' pockets but will also lead to a greater renewal of the community.

Until this transformation takesplace, however, the community - like others in the inner city - is working toward ridding itself of the violent image it has acquired.