Clarendon basic school goes solar

St Peter's Basic School in Portland Cottage can now say goodbye to high electricity bills, as last Thursday saw the launch of the school's solar system project that took place at the Portland Cottage Community Centre.

The project was mostly funded by the Abacus For Communities (AFC) family - a non-profit organisation that has been in operation since January 2011.

AFC offer services in disaster preparedness, institutional strengthening and community capacity building, as well as disaster response, all of which address specific needs of the community.

Member of parliament for the area, Rudyard Spencer, said AFC journeyed to Portland Cottage and met with the principal for the school, Laurel Brissett, and president of the Portland Cottage Citizens Association, Inez Williams, regarding the immediate needs of the school.

"Partnerships like this allow more Jamaicans to have affordable access to solar products and services," he said.

Lt Col (retd) Stacey Thompson of AFC said the organisation was created to establish a model for the empowerment and upliftment of all people.

"We have a strong core belief that communities must adopt self-development mechanisms, and while working with the Government, civil society and private institutions, [the communities] must not wait on them," he said.

The total cost of the project is approximately J$1 million.