AINSLEY PARKINS
AINSLEY PARKINS CAN be described as a man who is willing to take risks. In the early 90s he put his trade as a carpenter on the back burner to enter into the undertaking business and now he has plans to take on the challenge of manufacturing picture frames.
Parkins who operates Portmore Funeral Supplies is also involved in the dog breeding business as he is the chairman of Portmore Dog Breeders Association. He has been an undertaker since 1992 when he returned from abroad after completing a six-month course in the field. Parkins said he decided to become an undertaker while working with Maddens in the 1980s.
"I used to be a cabinet maker at first and then I went to work with Maddens, building caskets for them. Building caskets wasn't hard because my father was a casket maker and I considered myself the best casket maker in the island so it just came naturally for me," said Parkins.
Parkins said after he left Maddens he decided to set up his own business in downtown, Kingston. He said back then it was difficult to establish a business in Portmore and so he started downtown. He has plans to set up shop in Portmore as a good number of his clients are from the municipality.
"I'm competing well and I believe that the whole undertaking business can do well in Portmore with as much as four or five other businesses. In terms of the English-speaking Caribbean we are the largest community. People die here all the time and it is not just tragic death. So, we can do well," said Parkins.
SATISFIED
Parkins adds that being an undertaker is a challenge because there is a need to ensure that persons who bury their loved ones are satisfied with the service provided.
"I try to analyse a lot of things when I am doing my business to ensure that the customer is satisfied. Also, I have also tried to assure people that some of the things they believe while growing up such as bones disappearing from caskets are due to heat and nothing else," he said.
The undertaker said now that he has established himself in that field he has plans to enter into the picture frames market. Parkins said the idea he is working with is to work with schools and other institutions to have children and other persons receive their certificates in a special frame. He adds these frames would be specially designed and he would start in that area soon.
Apart from his business, Parkins is involved in other areas in Portmore. He is President of the St. Catherine South Neighbourhood Watch Council. He has also been instrumental in working with other residents to develop the community of Newlands in Portmore. Parkins said he and his committee have worked hard to get garbage trucks to collect rubbish from every lane in the community. The committee has also worked with Councillor Andrew Wheatley to put in running water in the area as well as helping to set up an annual health fair designed to help residents of Newlands and surrounding areas.
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