In early November 2021, the Bluefields Best Kept Street Competition’s initiative celebrates and recognizes the hard work and creativity of the residents of the community. The initiative is the brainchild of Keith R. Wedderburn of Bluefields Organic Farm. The competition highlights the efforts of residents in order to make their local neighbourhood a beautiful place to live.
The awards will encourage civic pride in their local areas, together with encouraging environmentally friendly practices, increasing environmental awareness, and rewarding people who look after their streets.
Residents will collectively or individually enter a street, and then the judges will find the road best suited for:
- Most Visually Attractive Award
- Most Attractive Front Garden Award
- Best Recycling Practice Award
- Best Kept Street Anti-Litter Award
- Young persons in Best Kept Street Award.
In 1519, the Spanish established the town of Bluefields. Two additional settlements existed before Bluefields. Annotto Bay and Sevilla La Nueva, or New Seville, are the towns. Equally important, Bluefields has welcomed various prominant guests throughout the years, including Henry Morgan, Captain Blight, and Henry Gosse, a well-known author on West Indian birds. Several remains of the Bluefields and Shafton plantations remain in the area.
So far, community members are enthusiastic about the proposed project. A Steering Committee, led by Keith Wedderburn, manages the project, and they have already secured some sponsorship support and commitments from Bluefields’ family members living abroad.
What Bluefields Residents Look Foward to
December 9, 2021, is the official start of the competition. Therefore, with this in mind, the community anticipates a complete transformation once the contest begins. The expected outcome is numerous, and the cleaning, beautification, and maintenance of the spaces. Below are some key examples including:
Waste burning and unlawful dumping will no longer be an issue in the future, thanks to increased public awareness of garbage management issues. To demonstrate, participants should attend solid waste management and composting workshops to separate their waste and begin composting with organic materials. Furthermore, leaving garbage behind will no longer take place. The local government will collect waste materials such as plastic, glass bottles, and aluminium files at regular intervals along each street to improve garbage management.
According to the Chairman of the Bluefields Community Competition Steering Committee, “This would not be made possible without our dedicated team of volunteers working behind the scenes. These include Mr André James, Mrs Alrica Whyte-Smith, Ms Tracey Edwards, Mrs Diana McIntyre-Pike, Ms Tracey Spence, Mr Charles O. Wilkinson aka Sir W One, Ms Alison Massa, Ms Adrianna Parchment and Mr Kelon Wedderburn. We are thankful to our sponsors, friends, and families of the community.”
We also invite others from this area who may live out of Bluefields to join us. The time has come to band together and help beautify your street. When you return, this will be your beautiful Jamaican space.
All donations go toward funding the awards and, where possible, assisting participants with their preparation.
Other parishes should readily reproduce the Beautifying your community contest to catalyze community improvement.
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