Jamaica Institute of Planners gets new woman president
Senior Director of Housing in the Ministry of Water and Housing, Doreen Prendergast, is the new President of the Jamaica Institute of Planners (JIP). Prendergast and a new executive were elected at an extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday March 31 at the University of Technology. The first task of the president and her new executive is to reposition the association as an important professional body in Jamaica and among Caribbean and international planning associations.
According to Prendergast, “The whole aim is to improve the visibility of the association and to earn the respect that planners truly deserve. The key areas of focus for the new executive will therefore include a massive recruitment drive, reviving the association’s newsletter, Planscope, and reintroducing the seminar series to bring focus to plannin-related issues both locally and internationally.”
JIP was established over thirty years ago to, among other things, promote planning as a profession in Jamaica; establish and propagate sound planning principles and standards; and encourage planning education and research. But in the last couple of years, the association had become somewhat dormant – a situation the new executive is aiming to reverse in a short time. The recruitment drive will, for example, be casting a wide net to cover all the regions of the country, as well as university students of planning. “Planners working in the parish councils for example will be co-opted as regional representatives to assist the association in the field so that we can have a wider reach,” says the incoming president.
The other members of the 2004 – 2005 executive are Vice President – Joan Dennis of the National Housing Trust, Treasurer – Andrea McKenzie, Director of Technical Services, and Secretary – Marvette Brown of the National Environment and Planning Agency. Council members include UTech lecturer and outgoing President Earl Bailey, Wendy McDaniel from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Interplan’s Martin Addington, Melissa Nangle and Frances Blair from the Ministry of Water and Housing and NEPA, respectively.
