Halse Hall residents plead for community centre

Residents of Bottom Halse Hall in Clarendon say that they are in need of a community centre to help uplift the youth there.

A resident, Kay*, says that she has been living in the community for more than 50 years, said that the community centre would give people, especially the young adults, a place to go and get involved in some form of extracurricular activity.

"Some a dem youth yah have too much time on their hands. Dem need fi come up with a centre to help them have something to do and keep them off the streets," she said.

Another resident, Thomas, said that he is in full agreement as the centre would provide a place where persons who are not going to school have a place where they can get involved and learn more.

He said that if a centre is built in the community, programmes can be put in place not only for the youth, but for older persons for their enjoyment.

"It will give it (the community) a life because people nuh really have a place they can gather and have fun like that, so if we get one, that would be a good thing," he said.

Kay told THE STAR that they are not only interested in a community centre, but job opportunities, especially for the boys.

NEGATIVE ACTIVITIES

She said that often, because of lack of work, the young men are engaged in negative activities. She called out for the relevant authorities to take the necessary steps to ensure that young men are positively engaged.

"Dem can even clean up the streets and mek di place look good and dem pay dem. Mi know they will do that. People used to have work one time long ago when there was a ... company, but since it close down, there is no more work," she said.

"Community people used to get job, and people get pay, so if dem chuss a pound a flour, dem could a pay for it when dem get pay," she said.

The mother of two said that Vere Plains has plenty of land space to be developed so that people can have equal opportunities to uplift themselves and get good jobs when they leave school. She said that the Government needs to think about how they can develop the area to serve the communities in and around the area for years to come.

*Name changed