PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 22, 2019
PREPARATORY WORK FOR THE MORANT BAY URBAN CENTRE NOW UNDERWAY
Chairman of Factories Corporation of Jamaica Limited (FCJ), Mr. Lyttleton ‘Tanny’ Shirley is insisting that the Morant Bay Urban Center will spark the movement of change needed in St. Thomas.
St. Thomas, which many view as a forgotten parish, has now seen a renewed hope among residents due to the joint venture agreement between China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) and FCJ for the development of the Urban Centre.
On June 26th, 2019 a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the project, where the FCJ Chairman spoke about necessary preparations that will happen in short order.
“We now have to establish a new company that will be responsible for the final engineering design, hydrologist studies, and environmental studies, soliciting final approval of the appropriate government agencies, establishing a site office, clearing of the site, construction of a security fence, following which full construction will commence thereafter. The preparatory work is expected to take approximately 5-6 months.”
For Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Daryl Vaz the preparatory work will be necessary before construction begins. However, he is urging developers to not let issues of bureaucracy stall the progress of the development of the Morant Bay Urban Center.
Mr. Vaz who was also speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony suggested that the developers waste no time while they await the completion of preparatory works.
“My charge to the chairman and board [of FCJ] is while you’re doing [those]…things before you get to the construction…we need to see something…so let us not wait to start hoarding the place and putting up your site office and getting prepared.”
Mr. Vaz has in the meantime promised the residents of St. Thomas that under his watch the Morant Bay Urban Centre will be completed in the shortest possible time.
“I want to give my commitment…that this will happen and that we will work assiduously to get it started and get it completed in the shortest possible time so that we can reap the benefits of the visionary movement.”
The Morant Bay Centre will take approximately two years to be completed at an estimated cost of $5 billion Jamaican dollars. Upon completion it will house public and private sector entities, such as the St. Thomas Municipal Corporation, The Parish Court, The Registrar General’s Department, Business Process Outsourcing companies, educational facilities, fast food establishments among other companies.
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