By Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE HIGH level of criminal activity in the Corporate Area is impeding the government's efforts to market the city of Kingston as an Information Technology (IT) site, to meet the growing demand for IT space.
Montego Bay remains the preferred choice for IT investors, but the available factory space there is not keeping up with the demand. According to the Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell, efforts to market Kingston as an ideal IT location to complement Montego Bay has not borne fruit.
"We are running out of IT space in Montego Bay," Mr. Paulwell told IT executives at a meeting in Montego Bay last Friday. "We are now seeing increased demand for space in Montego Bay and I don't believe we have been able to sell Kingston largely because of the negatives that surround the city."
This predicament has prompted the Minister to call on local and foreign investors to look towards other areas of western Jamaica as possible IT locations. According to Mr. Paulwell, the government is willing to enter into joint-venture partnerships with persons who wish to invest in creating IT space. He said the government is prepared to look at any proposal to build factory space for the IT sector using government-owned land.
"I want to use this opportunity to encourage more businesses, more Jamaicans to look at creating more office space and the government has already committed to looking at allowing someone to build on its land and operate the business as a joint venture. We are prepared to look at any proposal from the private sector in this regard," Mr. Paulwell noted.
The parish of Hanover is being eyed for IT development, as it is not only being close to the telecommunications base in Montego Bay, but also as an area with a relatively low crime rate. Mr. Paulwell said the business community in Hanover has already been approached, but concerns have been raised about vacant factory space in the parish owned by the government that is now lying dormant and which could be made available to the IT sector.
"We have not been able to put Kingston on the map as we would like. Montego Bay certainly is there, western Jamaica is certainly there and I wanted to see if we can extend Montego Bay to the wider western Jamaica and to see if we could sell this area as a homogenous area where you have relative peace and tranquillity," the Minister said.
Montego Bay developer Mark Kerr-Jarrett, said the Ministry needs to keep a database of the space requirements of the IT sector and plan accordingly. He noted that if developers know that there were companies waiting to occupy buildings, then that would speed up the process of construction.
"I think the uncertainty of whether or not the building will be filled is what's holding up private sector investment," said Mr. Kerr-Jarrett. He added that 250 acres of the Montego Bay South Development have been set aside for IT development.
