Above: Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Works Minister Dr Omar Davies at a JEEP project site earlier this year (JIS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica’s government says it has created approximately 3,000 new jobs under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme.

That total was reported by Works Minister Dr Omar Davies. The next phase of the project aims to target 30,000 people, according to Lucille Brodber, project director of JEEP.

“[The jobs] are in varied fields, such as construction, in terms of work being done through by the National Works Agency to repair gullies,” Davies said. “There are also some road work, and jobs in education and agriculture.”

According to Davies, the government has committed $10 million for the first phase of the programme, which was launched by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller on March 22.

The next phase of the project will begin after the budget is read May 24.

That portion of JEEP will include projects in sectors such as low-income housing and zinc removal, and Davies said he encouraged more entities to submit proposals for projects to JEEP.

“The main objective of the programme is to provide economic opportunity and employment for the vulnerable, that is the unemployed and under employed, and to equip targeted individuals and groups with simple marketable skills as the base for long-term skills and employment,” Brodber said.