Investors are showing much interest in the highly anticipated Morant Bay Urban Centre in St Thomas, resulting in demand exceeding the spaces under construction.
The disclosure was made by Chairman of the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), Lyttleton Shirley, during a walk-through of the site by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Thursday (July 14), at the old Good Year Factory, where the centre is being constructed.
“We have more demand for space than we presently have under construction,” Shirley said.
The $6-billion project, comprising 436,000 sq. ft., will see over 50 public and private sector entities erecting structures and creating an estimated 3,000 new jobs for residents.
“The facility will be an all-inclusive, integrated facility that borders on what [was] conceptualised from day one – order, functionality and security. That is what we would have achieved in the design concept,” Shirley noted.
In the address, the Prime Minister pointed out that the project is the first of its kind in many decades, “and so we have to get it right”.
Holness pointed out that the Government is undertaking the project without taking on any debt.
“We have put some equity in and we have put in our management, but the Government is not taking on any borrowing to do this, and so, the time that it takes to get partners convinced of the feasibility, and so forth, that takes a little time, and then to make the proper adjustments, so that the persons who will eventually use it are satisfied… that takes a little time,” the Prime Minister explained.
He pointed out that partners who will purchase property were consulted and accommodated in the design of the facility.
Holness also observed the commencement of preparation work on the project, which is expected to advance in the coming month.
As required under the contract with China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), local workers on the Centre will be at least 80 per cent. A total of 200 workers are estimated to be employed during the first phase of the project.
