Trelawny MC presents Local Sustainable Development Plan
The Trelawny Municipal Corporation has completed its Local Sustainable Development Plan (LSDP) aimed at guiding orderly growth, development and investment in the western parish.
“This Plan will address these challenges in a comprehensive and sustainable way, if it is implemented properly. Trelawny’s profile is increasing as a business and residential location, and the consultative work that has led to the development of the Plan, will be required in order to implement it successfully,” said Honourable Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government and Community Development.
He was speaking at the Trelawny Municipal Corporation’s LSDP presentation ceremony in Falmouth on March 16, 2018. The Trelawny Municipal Corporation is the fifth Local Authority to complete its LSDP following those in Manchester, Clarendon, St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine.
According to Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Honourable Karl Samuda, the partnership with the Trelawny Municipal Corporation is in keeping with their mission to drive growth and improve the quality of lives of the people, especially those residing in the sugar-dependent parishes.
“One of the objectives of the Sugar Transformation Programme is to strengthen the economic diversification, social resilience and environmental sustainability of sugar-dependent areas,” Minister Samuda said in his remarks read by Chief Technical Director, Mr. Courtney Cole.
“Through the Sugar Transformation Unit, the Ministry provided grant funding of $20m, which was facilitated through the Government of Jamaica and the European Union partnership, to the Trelawny Municipal Council towards the development of the plan…We anticipate the implementation of this plan, which, we believe, will greatly assist in attracting local and international investment in developmental projects in the parish.”
For Minister McKenzie, the Trelawny LSDP is the practical expression of the development objectives and requirements in the Local Governance Act and the Building Act.
“This Development Plan has five thematic points of emphasis that are critical to the success of any initiative of this nature. They are natural environment, Socio-Cultural Environment, Economic Development and Wealth Creation, Built Environment and Governance, Civic Participation and Empowerment,” he explained.
“The achievement of the goals of the National Development Plan, Vision 2030, depends on Local Government as it does on Central Government. There is a clear momentum of performance by the Municipal Corporations, but there is much more to be done. That benchmark point in the calendar is just 12 years away.”
Mayor of Falmouth Councillor C. Junior Gager, lauded the staff of his municipality for their efforts in making the Trelawny LSDP a reality.
“We in this parish of Trelawny will recognize the tenets of the Trelawny Local Sustainable Development Plan as the basis for a new social contract between the Trelawny Municipal Corporation and the people we serve.”
The attendees at the presentation ceremony also included Mr. Stefani Cilli, Attaché/Programme Manager for the Delegation of the European Union in Jamaica; Trelawny Members of Parliament Marissa Dalrymple-Philibert and Victor Wright as well as representatives from the National Housing Trust and the National Environment and Planning Agency.
