FOR THE first time at last, South West St Ann is said to be earmarked for a housing scheme.

"... The minister has given me the undertaking that finally, South Western St Ann will have a housing scheme," Ernest Smith, a two-term member of Parliament, said on Wednesday.

"The land is impatient for development, and I do not want the land to lose its patience," Smith added.

He was making his contribution to the Sectoral debate in Parliament.

Housing scheme

Smith, whose presentation mimicked those he has made in the past, told Parliament that his constituency had scarcely benefited from over 60 years of bauxite mining and the people there had very little to show for it.

"My constituency is the only constituency in Jamaica that does not have a housing scheme ... . We have earned more money for Jamaica than any other constituency in the 65 years of bauxite mining, and we don't have any (housing scheme)," Smith said.

He chastised the People's National Party (PNP) government, which held State power between 1989 and 2007, claiming that it had ignored the voice of the people. He said it had failed to put in place proper infrastructure and amenities to make the lives of the people better. Smith said that his Jamaica Labour Party was committed to changing all of that, a move, he said, which was demonstrated in part by the promise to give the constituency its first housing scheme.

Meanwhile, Smith has announced that his constituency would be launching a fathers-for-school initiative.

"I am organising all the fathers of all the children in South West St Ann to come together under the banner of each school to ensure that every school in the constituency is ready and fit for our children in September," Smith said.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com