ONCE AGAIN, I read with horror more statements by our leaders in regards to proposed ideas for development.This time it was the Prime Minister announcing that he would personally spearhead the redevelopment of downtown Kingston. That in itself is encouraging news, however like so many of these spearheaded initiatives, they are uninformed.
The documentation is there in all the surveys and reports and proposals for the development of down town, most notably the Down Town Management District document and the year 2000 redevelopment plan.
With this information at his finger tips how can the Prime Minister suggest that the first phase of development will be the said business district? Either he has not been in that part of the city recently or he has just been informed badly, because that isn't necessary.
Why? Because it is already happening. This is one of the cleanest areas of Kingston. Refurbishment of buildings is in full swing. Business is booming whenever the shop fronts are not blocked by vendors, and King Street is just like any other downtown street in the world...vibrant and alive.
Where development needs to start is on the peripherals: Rae Town, South Side, Trench Town, Tivoli Gardens and the Lanes in between. These areas are the source of many of the ills of the overall downtown area...impoverished, over crowded, filthy, and depres-sed, with no viable income generation of great worth other than a thriving drug trade.
Urban renewal
The first phase, I feel, should be a combination of urban renewal through upgrading to infrastructure, done alongside development of open sites into suitable housing. And I don't mean the Bellevue match box safety hazards which may be homes but certainly wouldn't qualify as a house anywhere else.
With proper houses in place, relocation can take place from the tenements, which can be demolished and the properties re-planned. As a first step in this the Government needs to put a Government order on all the properties with absentee landlords, posted in all the newspapers here and overseas, that in a given time if not claimed then the lands will be taken over by the state. A bit over simplified but that's the general idea.
Also, any one who does claim the property will have a given time to arrange sale or to upgrade the property to standards that will be set, possibly using set standards that are already in use.
The second phase which could overlap with the first, is to put in place sustainable growth and income programmes. Provide facilities for training and production, and of course provide the staff to do the training.
The third phase, and again there could be an overlap, is to facilitate the emergence of this trained resource base with the contacts in the business district.
If any of this is thought to be impossible, just look at the example of what has been possible on the waterfront on New Year's Eve for the past two years, and with the Christmas parade. Down town has the potential. It just needs informed and wilful action.
Email: vitruvius_@hotmail.com
