St. Ann’s Village, it’s a tiny village on the Old Northern Highway right before Maskall. Like most of those villages the population is tiny and the community facilities are meagre. But they will be getting one major upgrade, a multi-purpose community center and hurricane shelter. And as the next story will show, they really need it!
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
This is the St. Ann’s Village Center – a battered run down old building that looks ready to be condemned. But instead the Social Investment Fund will spend $161,00 to replace the rundown roof with a cement structure while upgrading the building completely with new bathrooms, windows, doors, electrical, plumbing and tiling. It will be hurricane shelter grade, but more importantly it will be the staging ground for the revival of the Hidden Beauty Women’s Group of St Ann’s Village which will produce craft items for tourists.
After the agreement was signed, ground was broken for 520 square foot extension building by the village chairperson Daisy Cuthkelvin and Ian Macmillan and Area representative Edmund Castro.
Hon. Edmund Castro. Area Rep.
“I remember some three years ago we sat down in this same dilapidated community building and I told the villagers, those who are here today, who are present, can remember and attest to this, that I will do whatever it takes to make sure St. Ann’s receives one of those multipurpose buildings.”
Rufus X is the contractor and work is scheduled to be completed in three months.
The entire project is coming in a cost of just under two hundred thousand dollars, 160 thousand will go to renovation of the center and 33 thousand will go to the purchasing of equipment, supplies, operational inputs, training in fruit processing, cake decorating and sewing and equipment including, 2 refrigerators, 3 stoves, cooking utensils, cutlery, cake decorating equipment and 5 sewing machines – all for the women’s group.
