- File
Buses parked in the lay-by in the Parade area, downtown Kingston.
Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
THE LAY-BY for buses in the Parade area of downtown Kingston is to be relocated next month as part of the redevelopment plans for the prime business district.
"We will be relocating them to a terminal south of the business district," said Michael Ammar Jr, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC). "This would take the congestion out and allow us to redevelop Parade and the park area and make it a much more user-friendly and an aesthetically pleasing area," he said.
Following decades of urban decay, Kingston has been targeted for major development since the mid-1980s. The Government, private sector interests and civic organisations have focused their efforts on improving the economic, social, physical and environmental conditions in this area through several initiatives.
The Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC) is one of the many organisations working on different elements, mainly transportation, vending, security and the restoration of derelict buildings.
"All the sub-committees are working feverishly to present final details so that the plans can be implemented by September," said Michael Ammar Jr, also a director of KCCIC. "There are elements of it that are already going on. There is a lot of cleaning up that has taken place downtown. There is the relocation of some of the vendors, fixing of roadways etc. At present, work is being done on Harbour Street leading out to Breezy Castle. We are also looking at creating a concert facility on the waterfront. The plans are being done even as we speak.
"There is also a review being done of all the markets and vending facilities in downtown Kingston with a view to modernising them and making vending a more pleasant attraction rather than the mess that it often is."
He bemoaned the recent fire that destroyed the Jubilee Market but said it could be a blessing in disguise. "The market being burnt down was really a bad thing but it has actually created an opportunity to create a nice facility and we are looking at what type of facility it could be."
There is also a plan in the pipeline to create a 24-hour farmers market (grocery) in the Heywood Street area as well as developing the Coronation Market into "the premier market" downtown Kingston.
"Vending is a positive thing but it is just out of control. We want to harness it and make it into a major economic attraction for downtown which would really draw thousands that wouldn't normally come," Mr. Ammar Jr said.
LOW-INCOME HOUSING
Also, the National Housing Trust (NHT), the Government agency charged with the responsibility of providing housing for wage earners in the low and middle income brackets, recently announced plans to spend $5 billion in the provision of low-income housing in communities on the periphery of the business community, including Denham Town, Matthews Lane (south) and Parade Gardens in Central Kingston.
Meanwhile, the Kingston Restoration Company (KRC) that was formed 20 years ago with a mandate to bring a turnaround in the deteriorating environment and economic prospects of downtown and provide badly needed jobs for the unemployed in the surrounding area, revealed that the project has a number of successes.
Morin Seymour, executive director of the KRC, cited an increase in investment in the city, the creation of over 5,000 new jobs over a seven-year period, plus the increase in production of office space and an overall improvement of the Central Business District (CDB), in physical and social terms. Earlier this year, Mr. Seymour urged business operators to open their cheque books to assist with the programmes. This plea, he said, had resulted in positive responses.
"We have always gotten good support from the businesses. It all depends on what you ask for," he said. "It has really gone though the roof," referring to the partnership with the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).
With the BNS, KRC had established a Micro Enterprise Finance Limited to help create jobs and provide loans for inner-city projects.
He noted, however, that the KRC has had to work closely with the business sector because it was not on the Government's budget. "It is the support from the business sector and the work that we are doing that's keeping us alive," he said.
