The Railroad Community Council is reaping the sweet reward of its hard labour after reaping honey from
their bee keeping project.
The project, which is in the York Town community, was started with a grant valued at J$500,000 from
Jamalco to boost social enterprise in the community and increase the economic prospects of the
residents living in the railroad area.
Council members are responsible for tending to the bees and reaping the honey in the scheme, which
is intended to teach interested community residents the fundamentals of bee keeping with a view to
create viable small business that will eventually generate much needed income for participants.
Chairman of the Railroad Community Council, David Brown, said the council will soon be on a good
economic foundation thanks to the injection of capital to jumpstart the project from Jamalco. Mr. Brown
explained that although most of the honey is sold for financial gain, the council will also be investing in
interested residents in the community by giving them boxes of bees so that they can start their own
beekeeping project.
Regular inspection and on-site training are carried out by representatives from Eltham Garden Supplies
in order to ensure that council members are equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge to
successfully rear bees.
The Railroad Community Council beekeeping project is one of two such initiatives sponsored by
Jamalco. The project is geared towards providing persons living in close proximity to the company’s
operations an opportunity to participate in income generating activities through their local community
councils.