MONTEGO BAY, St James - BRUCE Bowen, president and CEO of Scotiabank Jamaica, has announced that a new $1-billion state-of-the-art financial centre will be opened in the Fairview area of Montego Bay within a year.

Construction for the new facility will start in six weeks' time, Bowen revealed.

"We should be ready for March or April next year. It is going to be an amazing facility. It is going to be something that western Jamaica has not seen before. We know that's going to give great service to our customers," Bowen told reporters last week.

He was speaking during a cocktail party hosted by Scotiabank on the grounds of the Rose Hall Great House Thursday evening. Earlier that day, ground was broken for the new financial centre in Fairview.

The facility will provide, among other services, Scotia Investment, Scotia Insurance as well commercial and private banking, and will replace the Sam Sharpe branch as its flagship Branch in western Jamaica.

Bowen was quick to advise customers, however, that it will not mean that the Sam Sharpe location will be discarded.

"The feedback I get is that Sam Sharpe Square is too busy; there is not enough parking. On the other hand, it is close to many customers, so we could never ever leave Sam Sharpe Square," Bowen stated.

He further stated: "We will consolidate the West Gate Branch into the new centre when it is opened and we will move the accounts in there, but Sam Sharpe Square stays open, Ironshore stays open".

Bowen said the intended establishment in Fairview was in response to myriad customer requests for more parking space and easier access.

As a result of inadequate parking space in the Montego Bay town centre, several corporate entities have, in recent times, set up shop in the Fairview area of the resort city.