Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Patrick Wong, chief executive officer of the Kingston City Centre Improvement Committee (KCIC), says in short order downtown Kingston will get a facelift.

"We are going to be doing some beautification work," he tells The Sunday Gleaner. We are going to be putting up some signs at the various points of interest; we are going to be doing some landscaping and will be putting in some trash receptacles," he adds.

Prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup, areas of downtown Kingston cried out for help, which came at the eleventh hour in anticipation of the flood of visitors expected to arrive for the tournament.

St William Grant Park

There were talks of a facelift for St. William Grant Park and landscaping of the area along the Kingston Harbour. These plans fell through; all that happened was a mere wash down of St. William Grant Park.

The Christian Group Hope 2007 added life by painting and cleaning areas inside the capital city. The areas closest to Sabina Park were blessed with major cash injections as roads were rid of potholes and some zinc fences removed and replaced with concrete structures under the Lift Up Jamaica programme.

Despite the April 24 semi-final World Cup game being the last event of the tournament for Jamaica, suggestions are that the renewal of Kingston's degraded areas will continue.

Mr. Wong says signs pointing to places of interest within the city will soon be ordered and they will be erected within eight weeks. Similarly, the beautification, which he says involves the landscaping of various parts of downtown Kingston, should begin by the end of the month. Trees will also be planted and existing ones will also be pruned," he tells The Sunday Gleaner.

But will there be a sustainable renewal of the inner city?

Mr. Wong says this will only be attained through community activism and economic activity.

"The only way you are going to sustain anything is by creating economic activities," Mr. Wong says.

Creating jobs for the residents, and creating business opportunities for the private sector have been highlighted as areas in need of attention within the city.

"We are going to be working with the residents and the business community. It is going to be a two-pronged attack," says Mr. Wong.