By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
SOME FOUR years after the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) introduced its Tax Incentive Programme (TIP) in Montego Bay, St. James, the response has been disappointing, Majorie Campbell, general manager has said.
"Since the inception of the programme in Montego Bay, the UDC has held meetings with several groups and has sent letters to all registered land owners with the designated special development areas," Mrs. Campbell said, while addressing the St. James Parish Council monthly meeting last week. "However, response to this programme has not been encouraging."
REHABILITATIAccording to Mrs. Campbell, the programme was first introduced in Kingston in 1995 as a means of providing a "framework for granting incentives to persons who invest in the development, rehabilitation or refurbishment of lands or buildings in areas declared as special development areas."
She explained that the programme aims to address urban decay and to encourage the revitalisation of city centres.
Despite having big companies such as Courts Jamaica Ltd. and the Jamaica International Insurance Company on board in Kingston, only two applications have been received from companies in Montego Bay since TIP was introduced there in 2000.
Mrs. Campbell said that although she could not give a specific reason behind the lack of response to the programme in the second city, the application process could be the culprit. "Some persons are saying that the process is time-consuming," she told journalists after the meeting. "I don't know if it is because persons have to file their income tax on time in order to benefit from the programme," she added.
Mark Kerr-Jarrett, past president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce under whose stewardship TIP was introduced in Montego Bay, said that as of April, 2003, business owners in parts of the city had expressed very little interest in the programme. "They were afraid that their buildings would be defaced by vendors after they were restored under the programme," he said.
TEDIOUS PROCEDURE
He added that although the dynamics might have changed the programme's tedious procedure could pose a problem.
TIP provides tax-free rental, a 25 per cent tax investment, tax credit and the use of bonds that allow for lower financing costs for investment capital.
