A step up for Paul’s Avenue

This Wednesday saw the beginning of an attempt at people empowerment with the official opening of what has been named the George McIntosh Community Market.

The market was constructed on a plot of swampland that had long been dear in strange ways to the residents of Paul’s Avenue since it served as a sort of playground called “the Sawdust”. Moreover, it was constructed very near to the family residence of local hero George A. McIntosh after whom the facility has been named.{{more}}

Few, therefore, would question the naming of this facility which is an attempt to restore some dignity to what was a sore spot on an otherwise quickly developing neighbourhood that is being transformed over time from once very modest homes to a bustling hub of business.

There are significant benefits to be gained from the transformation of the area. The market project will help engender pride in the people of the neigbourhood, a fitting tribute to the leadership shown by McIntosh and what he believed in.

Seventy years after the uprising with which he became associated, George McIntosh has been honoured for his contribution to the struggle for the upliftment of the common man; a fitting tribute to one who suffered at the hands of colonial masters and was spurned and rejected by the very masses whom he attempted to represent.

The occupants of the George McIntosh Community Market, all of humble origins and most from the immediate environs, now have the opportunity to take themselves out of poverty, with considerable help from the government which spent over a million dollars toward the construction of the facility.

Adjustment to modern ways is a natural course of life. The challenge is, therefore, for everyone in the area with interest in the George McIntosh Community Market to rise to the occasion, and ensure that the effort to enhance social stability is maintained; not only at the new facility, but the rest of the immediate environment.

That would guarantee that the struggle by George McIntosh and those whom he led would have been worth the while.

The people of Paul’s Avenue have always been hardworking and ambitious. Many times all they have needed is breathing space.

This George McIntosh Community Market provides just that opportunity. This is a step up for Paul’s Avenue and its people.