By Monique Hepburn, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
PRESIDENT OF the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, Winston Dear, yesterday suggested that Government and the private sector collaborate on a master plan for the development of northwestern parishes, transforming them into a regional economic bloc.
"My call is twofold: the Government should do a master plan that will incorporate the whole of our prime tourism product as one economic unit to include all the areas from Negril through to St. Ann," said Mr. Dear.
"The private sector needs to promote the region as one unit, and stop competing against each other," he said in an interview with The Gleaner.
NORTH COAST HIGHWAY
Mr. Dear's call comes against the background of the development of the North Coast Highway, which has significantly reduced the travel time between the parishes of Hanover, Westmoreland, St. James, Trelawny and St. Ann, which are considered prime economic centres along the northwestern belt.
"I want to commend the efforts in Port Antonio and along the South Coast," said Mr. Dear. "However, in our region we have a village setting in Ocho Rios, we have an urban setting in MoBay and a laid-back setting in Negril. If we can promote everything as one then we can combine and have a great tourism product. The Government should consider the possibilities."
The completion of the North Coast Highway is central to Mr. Dear's proposal, since it is expected to deepen the linkages through reduced travel time.
"It was the advent of the new highway that led me to the idea of a regional master plan," said Mr. Dear.
"It creates the opportunity where in real terms we can treat the area as one unit as the travel time from one extremity to another is an hour and a half. Therefore it gives us the opportunity to move people around in relative comfort in a relatively short period of time."
