The Port Antonio branch of the Jamaica Public service has assisted with back to school preparations for eight children in Portland. The company handed over cheques worth five thousand dollars to seven children who were present at a handing over ceremony at JPS Port Antonio office on Friday August 29. The eighth child was absent. The children attend various schools across the parish such as Norwich, Bell Castle, Birnamwood, Mount Pleasant and Seaside primary schools and Moore Town Primary and Junior High. The children were between seven and eleven years old. The Parish Manager for Portland JPS, Detommie Sergeant said JPS wasn’t just about providing electricity but also was playing a vital role in the development of youths. She said, “some years ago we realized at JPS that our connection to the community is more than just our wires and posts…We launched our new vision and mission and you notice that part of our vision is to unleash Jamaica’s growth and prosperity and what better way to do that than to start with our youths.” Twelve year old Tarique James one of the beneficiaries who is leaving from Norwich Primary to go to Titchfield High said thanks on behalf of all the students. Thank you for even thinking about us. Thank you for even changing lives with your energy.”
Photo: left to right – Delroy Marshall (technical assistant), Lorraine Phillips (customer care and field services manager), Brandon Jones, Renelle Lynch, Tarique James, Alicia Lindsay, Nichelle Matthews, Shelleka Lafayette, Sharissa McLean, Ricardo Kirkland (customer care agent) and Detommie Sergeant (parish manager).
Kasey Williams Photo
THAT PHOTO: This picture (at left) with Roger Clarke in a dance with a PNP supporter at a party conference has become well known and many say reflects his fun nature, love for life and his engagement with so called ordinary people. The fact that he joked about it when it was published also told much about Roger Clarke. Mr Clarke, Agriculture Minister, died last week in Florida, as he was preparing to return home after back surgery. Many tributes went out for him last week, with most extolling his commitment to agriculture and his down to earth attitude and behavior. The PNP vice president emeritus was one who could be depended on to whip up a party crowd and he helped do that on the occasion that these pictures were taken, on Sunday, September 1, 2013 at the People’s National Party East Portland constituency conference at the Port Antonio High school, just a year before he died. The photographer was Times contributor Kasey Williams who put it on facebook, minutes after and it ended up around d the world and in newspaper pages, including in The North Coast Times.
