Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared that Portland is set for “massive” infrastructural developments, with the $4.2 billion Boundbrook Urban Centre paving the way for orderly development of the parish.
Speaking at Thursday’s ground breaking for the project, Holness said it will not be a “chaka chaka development”, as the plans for the project took longer than expected in order to avoid just that.
He went on to explain that as the plans were completed for the Boundbrook Urban Centre in the parish capital. Port Antonio, some other developmental plans for the capital were crafted.
“I brought in a world-famous architect and urban developer; his name is Gordon Gill, a Jamaican,” said Holness.
“This is a man who has done designs for new cities in China and Saudi Arabia, Toronto, Dubai, and he’s saying, ‘I want my country to look like those places,'” the prime minister stated.
Having brought in Gill, Holness pointed out that “a massive development plan” for the entire waterfront of Port Antonio, specifically looking at the lands owned by the Port Authority, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), and other Government entities, has been crafted.
“Portland is set for massive developments, but they’re not going to be high-intensity, high-density developments,” Holness declared.
“No, we specifically want to avoid that. We are going for high-value, low-density development, including the development of the East Harbour into a cruise shipping port. All of that is being planned,” he shared.
On that score, Holness said the Government is not focused on “one little development” for the parish.
“No, we have a well thought out, coordinated plan backed by the resources to sustain long-term infrastructure investment without interruption. That is what is different,” he indicated.
The Boundbrook Urban Centre will sit on 6.68 acres of land, and is being spearheaded by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), with equity partners National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Barita, and financed by CIBC.
Similar to the Morant Bay Urban Centre which remains under construction, the Boundbrook facility will be a hub for commerce and entertainment, housing Government agencies, educational facilities, financial institutions, private sector entities such as fast food and fine dining eateries, gaming locations, medical facilities, business process outsourcing (BPO) entities, legal services, beauty salons and more.
The facility is expected to provide some 2,000 jobs once completed.
Along with the Boundbrook Urban Centre, Holness said on Thursday that a bypass for Port Antonio is being developed at a cost of US$75 million. However, the project is at the public investment approval stage.
He said the bypass will also contribute to the development plans for Port Antonio by alleviating traffic congestion in the town, giving the town a chance to “breathe”.
