By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter 
Dr. Patrick Harris (right), Member of Parliament for North Trelawny and Edmundo Werner (left), UNVP Urban Development Specialist based in Bonn, Germany are in a jovial mood at the launch of the United Nations Volunteer Programme in Falmouth at the Falmouth Town Hall. - Contributed
WESTERN BUREAU:
IN A bid to pool under-utilised labour as well as improve socio-economic conditions in Trelawny, the United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNVP) launched a pilot project in Falmouth, recently.
The UN is ploughing US$5,000 seed money into measures to spearhead development in the town during the first year of the programme, dubbed the 'Support to intra-city Volunteerism Project', with a commitment to increase expenditure in that parish capital during the second year of the venture. The preparatory phase of the project kicked off in November last year and the programme will wind down in November, 2004.
"United Nations Volunteer Programme designed this project to provide specialist skills for two years... to demonstrate the impact that volunteerism can have on a community, if it is implemented in a systematic way," Ingrid Spence, UNVP Specialist announced at the launching ceremony at the Falmouth Town Hall.
Noting that the 'support to intra-city Volunteerism Project' should reduce the burden on government, as individuals become more self-reliant, Ms. Spence also insisted that the volunteerism potential in the programme, "will not only bring together under-utilised labour and skills, but also create development nuclei for solving localised problems."
Edmundo Werner, UNVP Urban Development Specialist based at the UNVP Headquarters in Bonn, Germany, echoed similar sentiments at Monday afternoon's launch of the programme in Falmouth. He was at pains to point out that the use of unpaid labour to train the unskilled, can be a powerful tool in urban development in Jamaica.
Falmouth is one of four sites in the world that has been chosen by the UNVP for the implementation of the 'Support to intra-city Volunteerism Project'. The other sites benefiting from the pilot project are Esmeralda in Ecuador, Ismailia in Egypt and Amran in Yemen.
A project management committee has been set up to guide the Falmouth-leg of the programme, and the members are representative of sectoral interests in the parish. The Social Development Commission is the major facilitator of the programme, while the Parish Council and corporate entities are to lend their financial and general support to the activities of the programme.
Among the empowerment activities to be implemented are: rehabilitation of the fishing beach at Seaboard Street; training in craft and life skills for craft traders in the Bamboo Village, Cooper's Pen; and the establishment of a computer area for Cave Island Citizens Association.
