Another Caribbean Development Bank funded project has been successfully completed in rural Jamaica. Two kilometres of roadway in Hayfield, St Thomas has been repaired at a cost of approximately USD379,654. The project executed by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), included the repair or existing drains and the installation of new ones, the asphalting of the roadway and Construction of retaining walls. Pastor Gwynette Sutherland, who has been living in Hayfield for over 30 years, said the road signifies greater development in the community. "It is much easier to get produce to the market. We don't stumble for transportation (anymore). It is a little better for school children also, because, sometimes, not having the transport to take them down, they suffer. They have to be walking down in the early morning and this was not good enough; and so they really benefit. We grateful for the road," she said. Farmer Roosevelt Dean said he was overjoyed with the improved road, "In Hayfield, we do farming for a living and this stretch of road that we get, it improve our life so much. It helps us to get out our coffee and the people dem going to market. First time we couldn't get any vehicle fi come fi dem, and now the amount of vehicle coming for them (is great). So we can say this stretch of road do a lot for us." State Minister for Transport, Works and Housing, the Hon. Richard Azan, encouraged the residents, some 40 per cent of whom are farmers, to maintain the roadway, noting that it is their responsibility. "If you see anything blocking the drains, clear the drains. If there is a landslide, let us go back to the days where the community used to come out and clear those landslides. What you can't manage, you have to get the parish council involved in. But what the community can do, do it," Minister Azan urged. JSIF's Project Manager Celia Dillon noted that rural communities remain among the most under-served and under resourced areas resulting in the continuous migration of thousands of persons to urban centres, where they add to the problem of overcrowding. "It is now expected that these improvements will enhance the overall socio-economic levels of the community, by allowing greater vehicular movement throughout the community and new access to markets," she said. Residents have engaged in training sessions highlighting ways to conduct routine and preventative maintenance. Information and Quotes Source: Jamaica Observer