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Principal of Old Harbour Primary School in St. Catherine, George Goode, has welcomed the implementation of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) $89.2-million Safe Passage Project at the institution, anticipating a significant enhancement of student safety.

The contract for the project, which falls under the 10th cycle of the Caribbean Development Bank-funded Basic Needs Trust Fund, was signed on Tuesday (February 11) at the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information in Kingston.

The scope of works includes construction of rails, sidewalks, erection of signage and construction of bus sheds to shield students from the elements as they await transportation at the end of the school day.

“Our school is benefiting from a Safe Passage Programme, and that is simply because we have had a number of experiences over the years where our students have been hit by vehicles on the road.

It’s a very good stretch of road that we’re on, and so what has been happening is that the drivers… and bikers… tend to speed on the road,” Mr. Goode told JIS News.

He also highlighted challenges with indiscipline, noting that students are sometimes not well organised on the road and do not use it wisely.

“Thankfully, we have not had any deaths on the road. What this project is going to do is to prevent that from happening and ensure that the near misses don’t even happen again,” Mr. Goode said.

He further told JIS News that, “the Safe Passage Project will also incorporate the whole matter of building new vendors’ stalls that will be at the side of the school; so, the students won’t have a need now to go across the road, which would put them in danger”, adding that the project is intended to improve road safety education.

“We are really grateful, as a school, for this project that will not only benefit the students but, indeed, it will benefit the community. We just want to say thanks to JSIF and the Caribbean Development Bank for this wonderful partnership with our school,” Mr. Goode said.