Jamaican Prime Minister Calls for Massive Cleanup for Cricket World Cup

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller promised last week a temporary, special employment program to clean up major urban areas and rural towns in preparation for next year’s Cricket World Cup 2007 at a cost of $635.8 million.

She said the program, which is set to begin next month, is also aimed at unemployment relief and poverty alleviation by creating 12,000 temporary jobs for the next six months, but could be extended after an initial review.

Mrs. Miller said that to ensure that there is value for money in the program, as well as sustainability, it will take a multi-agency approach, as well as include public and private sector involvement.

“We are going to clean up a number of areas, including our verges and our median strips,” she said. “We are going to do landscaping and we are going to remove all the old garbage and the old things from inside homes, from off the streets and from our communities.”