Inner City Basic Services Project (ICBSP)

Down with the zinc fences: the Transformation of an Inner City Community  

A $100.6 million zinc fence removal project in the inner city community of Whitfield Town in South St. Andrew has been contributing to the unquestionable transformation sweeping through this neighbourhood.

Stephen Lane, Whitfield Town before the zinc fences came down  

The Whitfield Town Zinc Fence Removal Project is being implemented under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) executed Inner City Basic Services Project (ICBSP). Gene Shaw, ICBSP Project Manager reports that, “with the exception of packages 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 which are in the initial stages of implementation, the other packages are over 90 per cent complete.” He also revealed that since the project’s inception, it has employed 235 persons - 100 males and 135 females. However, it is estimated that when the project comes to a close another 115 persons will have been employed when the other projects come on stream.

A completed wall along Stephen Lane, Whitfield Town 

Mr. Shaw noted that community persons employed to work on the Whitfield Town Zinc Fence Project receive on the job training certification from the HEART Trust NTA. “The JSIF is working in collaboration with the training institute to provide the labourers with certification in areas like occupational safety. This occurs during the labouring process as they receive tests designed by HEART Trust NTA as well as practical assessments (examinations).” 

 According to George Simmonds, a member of the Whitfield Town Community Committee “the project has given the community persons a new lease on life. There has been a return of civic pride” as having concrete fences have contributed to residents no longer disposing their garbage on the roads and the community is cleaner. Mr. Simmonds expressed the community’s appreciation for the project and reported that since the project’s inception, the tensions that existed previously in the community have subsided as residents are now meaningfully engaged, resulting in a decrease in the number of violent outbreaks. In addition, he stated that residents are now working together and are choosing to discuss their issues as opposed to resorting to violence.

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