The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia

RESIDENTS’ lack of education in the inner-city and high unemployment levels were highlighted as key social ills that continue to plague the Over-the-Hill community as the government moves closer to rejuvenating these impoverished areas.

Data contained in the white paper for the Over-the-Hill Community Development Partnership, tabled by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday, shows unemployment at its highest in Grants Town with 17.9 per cent of the residents without jobs. In Centreville and Bain Town, 16.9 and 11.7 per cent of people respectively were not working.

Regarding education, many residents do not have a secondary education, with even less of them having any level of tertiary education.

In Bain Town, only 59.5 per cent of people completed high school. In Centreville and Grants Town the numbers were a bit higher at 64 per cent and 64.7 per cent respectively.

Those who attained only a primary school education in Bain Town amounted to 6.5 per cent. In Centreville, the numbers were slightly higher with seven per cent and 7.6 per cent for Grants Town.

Those with trade and vocational training in Bain Town, Centreville and Grants Town amounted to 10.7 per cent, 6.8 per cent and six per cent. Residents with associate’s degrees were 3.5 per cent, 2.5 and 3.8 those areas respectively.

The information shows only 2.6 per cent of persons in Bain Town had bachelor’s degrees while 2.3 per cent of residents in Centreville and 3 per cent of those in Grants Town had this qualification.

These were the findings of the 2016 Ministry of National Security Needs and Assets Assessment of New Providence communities as part of the Citizen Security Programme.

As of 2016, it was found that population levels increased since 2010. There were 10,800 people living in Centreville and both Bain Town and Grants Town have 9,500 residents.

This amounts to 29,800 people, an 8.55 per cent increase from the 27,453 recorded in 2010 population census.

The programme, outlined by the white paper has six key pillars including social and economic empowerment, rejuvenation, smart technology, green sustainable energy and programmes for youth and the elderly.

First, the document said it is the government’s intention to strengthen social support systems and facilities for families using a competitive grant process where applicable, provide skills and job training to improve the employability of and empower residents in the community to participate in economic activity created by the rejuvenation process, provide improved access to health services and taking back the streets.

The white paper further outlines steps the government plans to take to create incentives to encourage ownership and redevelopment of land and business growth.

The strategies involve establishing an economic empowerment zone to encourage the promotion of micro, small- and medium-sized businesses; building local businesses and financial literacy capacity and creating economic empowerment opportunities for residents by investing in the rejuvenation of cultural assets in the Over-the-Hill community.

Improving physical surroundings, solid waste management and infrastructure is also an aim of the programme and is outlined as its third goal.

The government plans to do this by increasing existing collection efforts for all types of waste, improving and upgrading water and sanitation infrastructure, the restoration of public spaces and those used for recreation and improving housing infrastructure along with developing affordable housing.

Further, smart technology is also included in the proposed plan.

There will be promotion of the use of smart technology/applications to facilitate improved effectiveness in the delivery of public and community services and bridge the digital divide by facilitating access to Wi-Fi at parks, schools, libraries, tourist sites, health clinics and other government offices.

Green technology will further be promoted and incentivised for residential and commercial establishments.

And under the plan’s youth and elderly empowerment pillar, the government will provide access to literacy and numeracy training and other learning opportunities, establish literacy and numeracy clinics at community centres throughout Over-the-Hill educational institutions and provide opportunities for experiential learning sessions and field trips.