A commuter walks by the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre under construction at the intersection of North Odeon Avenue and Eastwood Park Road in Kingston on a rainy afternoon, December 12, 2006. - File

Eight months away from the completion of the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in St. Andrew, project managers for the bus terminal, the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), is hunting markets for commercial retail shops being built inside the complex.

It wasn't entirely clear why Port Authority was running the show at a development in the centre of Kingston that facilitates inland commute, though the agency said it was linked to its track record at the port.

The request, said the agency, came from the Ministry of Transport.

"Since Port Authority is in the Transport Ministry and because of our track record in project management, the minister designated PAJ to oversee it," said assistant vice-president of public relations at PAJ Pat Belinfanti.

The agency is still working out the type of business it wants to see inside the state of the art transport centre, whose 17 shops become available in November 2007, as well as the management structure for the transport centre.

"We are deciding the number of people to be in the management team, but those are to be kept at a minimum," said Belinfanti.

PORTFOLIO

The PAJ expects at least 250,000 commutersper week to pass through the euro32 million (US$41 million) transport centre, projections based on Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC) data. Both PAJ, which oversees activity at the nation's seaports, and JUTC, the state-run bus company, are agencies falling under the portfolio of Cabinet Minister Robert Pickersgill.

The centre is being developed by a subsidiary of the Belgium company Besix, the firm currently constructing what is to be the tallest building in the world located in Dubai. Besix Jamaica Limited has partnered with UK-based Kier on the Half-Way Tree project, which began in 2005.

The complex comprises a bus terminal covered by a steel canopy with a surface of 9,300 metres square, retail space, offices and a terrace of 900 square metres.

"The project is on schedule," said the PAJ spokesman.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com