SECOND CITY, tourist Mecca, Bay... call it what you will. Montego Bay is the next stop for Go-Local Jamaica's community web site team - now launching www.Go-MontegoBay.com as at Friday, May 25.
If you've been keeping your ear to the ground, you'll know that Montego Bay is the third in the series of community web sites being launched by Go-Local Jamaica. MoBay, as the town is affectionately called, is a posh resort, tourist town and seaport. But it's not all about the city of MoBay. The Go-Local team will bring you "nook and cranny" news from all parts of St. James.
The aim is to establish community web sites for each parish in the island - a "reference point" where residents can get their local news, find out what's happening, pick up a profile on a local resident or business and get the scoop on local events. The interactive page allows the public to air their views, sign up for free e-mail accounts or hang out in the chat room. But to date, it's the photo gallery, which has proven to be most popular. Look out for these on www.Go-MontegoBay.com Hotels, great houses, hot spots, local events...plus a whole lot more, will all be featured. Check out this week's business profile on Dome Wholesale. It's an inspiring story of how Jackie and Claude Stewart completely changed career paths, moving away from the corporate world in Kingston to become successful entrepreneurs in Montego Bay.
"The idea of this feature is revolutionary, educational and uplifting especially at a time when some people believe that nothing is happening in Jamaica," is how one visitor to the Go-Portmore site responds. Web sites for Kingston and Portmore were launched earlier this year, with the former topping 500,000 hits a month and the latter picking up just about the same number.
With predictions from certain quarters that Information Technology in Jamaica today is poised to become what the USA was in 1997, with the development of the computer age, Go-Local will be crucial in facilitating civic dialogue and keeping locals informed and aware of what's happening in their communities.
Don't be left out of this trail-blazing venture. Capture the opportunity to participate in community development via the Internet. If you have a local news item that you want to be aired, or know of someone that you think should be featured, send the information to news@go-localjamaica.com
The Go-Local project is co-sponsored by the Gleaner Company Limited, Jamaica National Building Society and Sangster's Book Stores.
