Amritt

Eighty-seven-year-old Stanley Amritt greatly believes in his community and has been demonstrating this through major financial and property donations within his home parish of St Mary.

"He is a very, very community-spirited person, he believes in the community," said Claudette Duncan, principal of the Highgate Primary and Junior High.

In a story carried in The Gleaner yesterday, Amritt had a computer lab named after him at the school. The honour came after he had donated $4.5 million to its construction.

Now Amritt is at it again! Duncan revealed to The Gleaner that Amritt has also offered to donate as much as eight and a half acres of land, a short distance from the school's current location.

Accepted in words

The offer, Duncan said, has been accepted in words but needed the approval of the Ministry of Education. She said the a gift "would greatly benefit the school".

The school, which houses 1,500 students and 57 teachers and operates on a shift system, is shamefully undersized and overpopulated.

"There is need for another school because we operate on the shift system and you know the government is saying that the shift system must go. Even if we revert to a primary (school) it will need another school," Duncan explained.

The school has often been relieved by the reliable and benevolent support of Amritt in many other ways.

For instance, when there is no water, the school gets assistance from Amritt's farm. Amritt also insists that principal Duncan takes bananas from the farm for the school's use.

Interestingly, Amritt did not even attend Highgate Primary and Junior High. His motivation, Amritt said, was fuelled by an undying love for his community.

Current projects

"I'm a community man - wholeheartedly," he said, even as he shared of other ventures he was currently undertaking in the area - like the Amritt Basic School.

Upon the death of his parents, Amritt donated the home in which he and his siblings grew up to be used as a basic school.

The school, located in Harmony Hall, was renamed after him.

As marvellous as all his contributions have been, to Amritt it has all been simply a matter of 'giving back'.

"That's where I make all my living out of - farming, so it's a matter of just giving back something to what you get out of," Amritt explained.

Having inherited some 200 acres of land, Amritt spent the bulk of his life as a major banana farmer and exporter.

andrew.wildes@gleanerjm.com

The Highgate Primary and Junior High School in St Mary has a computer lab with a man's name on it. That man - Stanley Amritt - according to the staff at the school, deserves all the accolades he gets. His $4.5 million donation led to the building of the lab and his generosity could extend to a whole new school. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer