THE CREATION of a deep-water pier on 150 acres of reclaimed land for tourism and other commercial and industrial development of Lucea, Hanover, is the highlight of a six-point projection by the town's Mayor, Councillor Lester Crooks.
To this end, Mayor Crooks is seeking to discuss the matter "urgently" with the Port Authority of Jamaica and other officials of government agencies.
The Mayor told more than 100 Hanover business and civic organisation leaders in Lucea last week that such a development would give a hefty boost to investment opportunities, as well as employment and tax revenue in the parish. Without such a complex, the parish, particularly Lucea, its capital, "would continue to stagnate", the Mayor warned.
He added: "We need to get this project up and running quickly. There is an urgency for it, and we're going to pursue it to the very end."
Mayor Crooks pointed out that the proposed pier would facilitate not only cruise ship calls to Lucea, but such other things as thriving real estate and import-export development.
The Lucea Mayor is also going to be pushing for the town to be developed into what he described as "a crafts shop" for tourists. As he pointed out at the meeting, although the town is 'sandwiched' half-way between the island's major destination resorts of Montego Bay and Negril, visitors on tour buses and in rented cars simply pass through by the thousands each week and never stop. Simply because there is nothing in Lucea for them to stop for, he said.
The parish of Hanover hosts some of the finest resorts not only in Jamaica but the wider Caribbean. These include the celebrated Tryall and Round Hill near Hanover's eastern border with St. James.
