Nutten nuh deh ya fi di yute dem do - Cedar Valley wants job opportunities

According to residents of Cedar Valley, St Thomas, their community brings millions of dollars into the country through farming, but aside from that, there is nothing for youngsters in the community to do.

Charmarie Bentley Watson says that persons who want a career that does not involve farming have to leave the community to achieve their goals.

"The children who leave school and are not into farming have nothing to do. Yuh have some set weh graduate. Right now, them just deh bout the place wid nothing fi do. No work nuh in here fi dem do," she told THE WEEKEND STAR.

She said that she would want a factory to be built so that the graduates who can't leave the community could be gainfully employed.

Another resident, Paul Bailey, said persons leave the community in droves to seek a better life yearly. Some of them never return except for events such as funerals.

"They don't usually come back, especially because of the condition of the road," he said.

Gerald 'Andrew' Graham, 45, who has lived in the community all his life, says he has thought about leaving Cedar Valley on numerous occasions to seek opportunities to improve his life.

"A only tru mi have kids here and mi start put dung a likkle foundation a grung. It hard fi run lef it gah one different place guh continue, but if mi have options, mi woulda gone," he told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"From a man ketch 20, 22 years old, him gone, cause nothing else nuh deh yah fi do, and everybody nuh born fi do farming. A just who really love here stay here," he added.

He argues that the avenues that are available to the farmers in the community to earn money have been decreasing following the closure of two coffee factories over the past decade and the price falling from $12,000 per box in 2015 to $4,000.

"It come like the community stagnant yah now cause coffee a di main livelihood round here suh," he explained. "Now, yu just affi try pon yu own fi si if yu can mek ends meet."

He said they have to resort to playing dominoes and card games to keep themselves occupied as even a football competition that they had started was stopped by the police.