Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE LANDS comprising Railway Gardens in Montego Bay will be used for the expansion of the city's commercial district, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced yesterday.
Mr. Patterson, who was speaking at the official handing over of new housing units to residents of Railway Gardens, said the National Housing Trust (NHT) will acquire and make lands available for private sector investment. Railway Gardens comprises Barracks Road, Barnett Lane, Catherine Lane, Coombs Lane, River Bay Road and the Railway Compound.
"For this commercial development to take place, we will make the land that we will own available at a price, we expect the private sector with all the incentives that are available to them to undertake the physical development and the economic expansion to provide jobs for the people in the area," Mr. Patterson said.
The Prime Minister urged members of the Montego Bay business community to take advantage of the incentives that will be offered by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to develop the area. He warned that persons would not be allowed to move into the Railway Gardens area when it is vacated by the present occupants.
A THRIVING COMMERCIAL CITY
"We want to see Montego Bay develop to be a thriving commercial city that can not only serve western Jamaica, but can be the hub of the entire Caribbean as we enter the Free Trade Area of the Americas in a few years time," Mr. Patterson declared.
President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, Winston Dear, welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement and pledged the Chamber's support for the redevelopment of the Railway Gardens area. Speaking to The Gleaner, he noted that the Greater Montego Bay Redevelopment Company would play an integral role in this development, which he hopes will be inclusive to small entrepreneural type businesses.
"The redevelopment into a commercial area is something we (the chamber) want very badly; we think that's the way it should go and small businesses must be incorporated and the commercial district must be a part of the whole," he said.
