Construction of the Morant Bay Urban Centre is moving apace with preliminary works in the final stages of completion.
These preliminary works, which began over a month ago include: the clearing of the site behind the old Goodyear factory, demolition of some old structures, the removal of old metal and termite treatment.
Excited to see the work underway, Prime Minister Andrew Holness led a tour of the site on Thursday July 14, 2022. Included in the tour were representatives of Factories Corporation of Jamaica Limited, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and the National Commercial Bank, an equity partner on the development. Also on the tour were Member of Parliament for Western St. Thomas James Robertson and his Eastern St. Thomas compatriot Dr. Michelle Charles.
The Prime Minister in expressing delight that construction has begun, urged the developers to move quickly with the development. According to the Prime Minister, the Morant Bay Urban Centre means a lot to the Government of Jamaica.
“I am very pleased to finally see that work has started. I wish to say to the contractors, China Harbour, that for some time now it has been said that St Thomas is the forgotten parish. It has indeed been the case that St Thomas is the parish of, I would like to say ‘revolution’ instead of ‘rebellion’. This is the parish that sparked a change in how the colonial powers administered the affairs of the country. The parish deserves the attention that it is now getting. We want the work to proceed apace”, said Mr Holness.
The Morant Bay Urban Centre development is being undertaken under a Joint Venture partnership involving the Government of Jamaica through FCJ, CHEC and NCB.
The Prime Minister, in acknowledging delays in the start of construction which left some persons doubtful, gave an explanation.
“We have put some equity in and we have put in our management, but the Government is not taking on any borrowing to do this, and so, the time that it takes to get partners convinced of the feasibility, and so forth, that takes a little time, and then to make the proper adjustments, so that the persons who will eventually use it are satisfied… that takes a little time,” the Prime Minister explained.
In the meantime, interest in the Morant Bay Urban Centre development has increased significantly. FCJ’s Chairman Lyttleton ‘Tanny’ Shirley disclosed that there is now an oversubscription in the space demand.
We have more demand for space than we presently have under construction,”
– said Chairman Mr. Lyttleton Shirley
“The facility will be an all-inclusive integrated facility with order, functionality, security and that is what we would have achieved in the design concept. We will have a park that is very similar to Emancipation Park that will be very historic. We are going to have a museum that symbolises the history of St Thomas,” Mr. Shirley noted.
For NCB, they are very proud to be the Financial partner of the project.
“ We’ve been working with the FCJ and CHEC teams throughout the process. We are very happy we are at this stage where the work has started. We are not only the debt provider; the National Commercial Bank has provided the debt to fund the project but we are very committed so much so that we are equity partners. One of our Funds, Stratus, is an equity partner in the project. That’s how committed we are, that’s how much we believe in it and we’re very excited to see it going. We’re very excited to see the benefits it will bring to the people of St. Thomas and to Jamaica in general,” said Cornella Alladice, NCB Relationship Manager Corporate Banking.
Vice President of China Harbour Engineering Company Limited’s (CHEC) America Division, Dr. Zhimin Hu indicated the company’s commitment to Jamaica and it’s eagerness to have the project completed on time.
The Morant Bay Urban Centre will see the amalgamation of services provided by the Government of Jamaica and the Private Sector through the creation of 436,000 square feet of space.
