IN JAMAICA: Life Changer for 24 y-o Horace Bailey Escapes Rough Bus-Loader Existence, Turns JPS Intern.....left high school with no subjects and lives in the volatile St Andrew community of Majesty Gardens, more popularly known as 'Back To'

For more than two years, the only employment Horace Bailey knew was to load buses on the streets of the Corporate Area.

The 24-year-old, who left high school with no subjects and lives in the volatile St Andrew community of Majesty Gardens, more popularly known as 'Back To', said the killing of several bus loaders made it a risky job, but underscored that it was better than the alternative. "It was a matter of survival and I did not want to turn to the gun or get involved in a gang," he explained.

Horace Bailey (left), intern in the Citizen Security
and Justice Programme (CSJP)/Jamaica Public
 Service Company (JPS) training and job
-placement initiative, is congratulated by
Simeon Robinson (right), CSJP
 programme manager

Yesterday, Bailey was among 20 at-risk young people from several inner-city communities who began working as interns at the JamaicaPublic Service Company Company (JPS), through a partnership agreement with the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) through the Ministry of National Security.

The 19 males and one female, according to JPS director for the eastern region Omar Sweeney, will be exposed to high-level training over a six-month period. It is estimated that this will cost the light and power company more than $5 million. more