CLARKE
Rainforest Arial Trams, a Miami-based outfit that operates forest-based eco-tourism and adventure attractions in Central America and the Caribbean, is to take a 50 per cent stake in a similar facility planned in the hills overlooking the Jamaican north-shore tourist town of Ocho Rios, one of the developers, Horace Clarke, confirmed yesterday.
"We have just signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with them," Clarke, a one-time Jamaican Cabinet Minister, said. "They have a number of similar types of attractions, so they will bring expertise to the project."
Awaiting NEPA ruling
Clarke and his partner, the Ocho Rios-based water sport operator, Mike Drakulich, using a vehicle called Mystic Mountain Ltd., have leased 97.3 acres of land from two Government agencies - Jamaica Bauxite Mines Ltd. and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) - for the project and are now awaiting a ruling from the National Environment Planning Agency (NEPA) on their environment impact assessment to start the development.
The NEPA board was to review the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on Wednesday. Clarke, last night, said the environmental watchdog had approved the permit.
"After we have got our permits and we put the finance in place, it will take us one year to put the facility in operation," Clarke said.
The investment is estimated at US$4.5 million (J$292.5 million), he confirmed.
Documents filed by Mystic Mountain with NEPA, indicated that the aim of the investors is to tap into the growing number of tourists, especially on cruise liners, who come to Jamaica and not have enough to do. Most of these cruise passengers land in Ocho Rios.
For instance, of the 2.5 million tourists who visited Jamaica last year, 44 per cent were on cruise liners and 70 per cent of those landed in Ocho Rios. Nearly 300,000 stopover tourists also stayed in the Ocho Rios area. Nearly half of the tourists who come to Jamaica are below the age of 35 and increasingly seeking experiences other than sun, sea and sand holiday. In recent years a handful of adventure-type attractions have emerged to tap into this market, but apparently not enough, especially in the face of plans for additional cruise pier development in Ocho Rios and the coming on stream of new hotels.
Attractions
The Mystic Mountain project will include triple chair lift ride, just above the treetop canopy, to a look-out point more than 700 feet above sea level; a 3,300 feet bobsled coaster run; a 2,000 harnessed thrill ride at 50 miles and more than mile long nature trail, including over wooden walkways, suspension bridges and elevated platforms. There are also plans for an Olympic village, displaying memorabilia and medals from Jamaica's sporting performances, but also taking advantage of tropical Jamaica's unusual participation in the bobsled competition at the winter Olympics, immortalised by the movie, Cool Runnings.
Clarke said that much of the engineering had been done, which would would make it easy to move ahead once his company gets the go-ahead from NEPA. "A substantial amount of work has been done," he said.
The EIA commissioned Mystic Mountain held the project will have negligible negative impact on the natural environment and will in some respects lead to an improvement in the natural forests, areas of which had been under threat from degradation because of a lack of management.
"We are committed to acting in concert with the environment," Clarke said. "Our partners have a track record in this regard."
