Members of the Manchester Football Referees group plant a fruit tree at the Hanbury Children's Home in Kendal, Manchester on Thursday. - Photo by George Henry
KENDAL, MANCHESTER:
Members of the Manchester Football Referees group put away their officiating gear on Thursday, to give voluntary service to the Hanbury Children's Home at Kendal in that parish.
The referees were making the contribution as part of activities celebrating Jamaica Football Referees Week.
The group of Jamaica Football Federation officials turned up at the children's home from as early as 8 a.m. in red shirts - but without their whistles. Instead, they were armed with machetes, garden forks, shovels, pickaxes, hoes and fruit trees.
The group, comprising more than 20 referees, planted upwards of 50 fruit trees, including apple, cherry, jackfruit, oranges, coconut and sweet sop, and bushed an existing orchard.
Dudley Powell, chairman of the Manchester Football Referees group, said the Hanbury Children's Home was selected for the work because the group wanted its presence to be felt in a meaningful way. He added that the group decided to plant the fruit trees because the children's home started planting some last year, but these were insufficient.
Major Rudolph Richards, who is in charge of the Hanbury Children's Home, in expressing gratitude for the efforts of the Football Referees, said the planting of the trees was welcomed.
- George Henry
Education reducing accidents - ministry
SPANISH TOWN, ST CATHERINE:
With 40 fewer road fatalities than the corresponding period last year, the Ministry of Transport and related road agencies are feeling a sense of hope.
The statistics were revealed by Denise White-Bryan, secretary of the road safety unit, who said the carnage on the road has been eased, in part, by the constant information on dangerous driving, which is being put out.
She was speaking at 'Taxi man Safe Travel Awareness Campaign', a roadshow, aimed at reducing fatalities and other incidents on the streets.
White-Bryan said that, of the more than 170 persons killed on the roads this year, 11 were children, compared to 17 last year.
According to White-Bryan, 49 per cent of road fatalities to date are pedestrians, with several cases stemming from drunk driving.
The function was held at the Coore Texaco Service Station in Spanish Town under the theme 'Information Through Communication, The Key To Safe Health And Travel Lifestyle'.
Several taxi associations, The Jamaica Transport Operation Management Service and other persons connected to public transportation turned out in their numbers to show their support for the event.
