The Montego Bay Freezone. - CONTRIBUTED
REFURBISHING WORK on 24,000 square feet of factory space in the Montego Bay Free Zone will be converted into offices this fiscal year to facilitate the employment of 500 to 600 persons in the infor-mation and communications technology (ICT) industry.
The Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) has this among its plans for the 2006/07 fiscal period. Responsible for leasing, managing and development of industrial properties island wide, the FCJ has a budget of $275 million for the 2006/07 financial year.
To accommodate the in-creasing demand for ICT space, work will also start this year on the construction of a new building in the corporate area.
During 2005/2006, the cor-poration disposed of a number of idle assets, including the Good-year property in St. Thomas and sold lands at Twickenham Close in Kingston valued at $10 million, according to a Ministry Paper recently tabled in the House of Representatives by Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, Phillip Paulwell. It also sold property at Glendevon, St. James valued at $3.5 million; and factory buildings at Naggo Head, St. Catherine and Nanse Pen, Kingston valued at $55 million and $30 million, respectively.
OTHER PROPERTIES
Meanwhile, a 11.5-acre com-mercial property on Marcus Garvey Drive, Kingston, valued at $150 million and a 2-acre property in Denbigh Clarendon, valued at $12 million, were exchanged for more suitable government lands elsewhere.
Locations were also identified for factory development and a new building was constructed in Portmore.
The corporation proposes to rationalise existing assets by disposing of unproductive and unmarketable space, mainly by offering lands for sale to industrial investors, according to JIS.
The FCJ controls in excess of 44.5 hectares of vacant lands and some 1,886,992 square feet of factory space at 36 locations in 11 parishes.
The corporation intends to boost profitability next year by obtaining a minimum of nine per cent net profit, increasing occupancy of rental space to 80 per cent, reducing interest costs by sourcing international funding for capital projects, and nego-tiating for a reduction in interest rates on existing loans.
