Two pink poui trees shed their flowers by the hundreds in the front yard of the St Andrew Primary School but Denis Reid doesn’t mind; he sweeps them with pride. At 70 years old, he has finally found purpose. And this is it.

He is a groundsman – the best in at least four parishes islandwide, according to the 2024 Best Kept School and Community Competition put on by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), in collaboration with several other state entities.

The Government of Jamaica is to spend $197.4 million on the Annotto Bay Coastal Protection project, for which a contract will be signed on Monday, April 15.

The money, which will be invested by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) through funding from the World Bank’s Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP), will be used to undertake the protection works in Annotto Bay, St Mary.

According to JSIF, the project will protect the Annotto Bay shoreline against erosion. It will also enhance the aesthetics as well as improve the livelihood of the fisherfolk and other businesses in the area.