Tower Hill young men need intervention
Tower Hill in St James is rapidly evolving into a middle-class community.
But there is an urgent need for social intervention to rescue some of the young men who are educated and trained, but refuse to seek employment.
The principal of the 70-year-old Tower Hill Primary and Infant School, Claudette Brown, says the community needs some sort of social intervention to fully understand the mystery.
"The people here pride themselves in education. But while our young men have all been exposed to secondary education and job-ready skills, chiefly in the construction industry, they still refuse to work," Brown told WESTERN STAR.
She said the stance taken by some of these young men is rather puzzling, given the increased activities in the construction industry.
"I have observed that these young men, despite being equipped academically and technically, have been refusing to take on work that is available in their field of training. So I think that some state agency or outside influence to help change the mindset of our young men is urgently needed," she said.
Brown says unemployment is one of the major hurdles in Tower Hill and that the people who work in this community are the women.
"Our women are working, even those who have taken on the task of motherhood at an early age are now working and going back to school to complete their education. The picture is not the same for our young men," she said.
She added that there is another group of young men who are not so equipped to enter the job market, despite all the training opportunities that are available.
"They need to move towards tapping into the opportunities available through the HEART Trust/ National Training Agency and empower themselves," Brown added.
That aside, Brown said all the noble professions in the society can be found in Tower Hill, as it is an industrious community.
"We have bankers, principals, teachers, nurses, you name it. They all live here in the community or had the roots grounded right here on the hill," she said.
Meanwhile, Garnett Galloway, a carpenter, says the community infrastructure is in need of a major upgrade as it relates to the road network.
Galloway said the community has its own health clinic, which also serves residents from communities such as Moy Hall, Belmont and Guava Walk. But he wants to see an improvement in the level of services being offered there.
"For example, we would love to see a medical doctor visiting at least once per month, because, at present, only visiting community nurses' aides are working there. They told us that doctors will not come because the clinic is graded as a type-one facility," he said.