Western Bureau: Trelawny Custos, Roy Barrett, has blamed the government and the local Parish Council for Falmouth’s inability to attract investors, charging that they have failed to put the necessary infrastructure in place.

“For years the town is being prepared for sustainable heritage tourism development, and so far, all that can possibly be done by non-governmental organisations has been done. But our big stumbling block at this time are the works to be done by the public bodies — the government, the parish council,” he told the Observer Friday.

“These works include the sanitation of the town, its cleanliness and the disposal of waste water. And because this development is so critical… I am urging the governmental bodies to try and assist us in these areas at an early date,” Barrett said.

The Custos pointed out that since 1997, a number of steps have been taken by private entities to develop the town’s tourism, especially in the niche area that focuses on the parish’s heritage.

He reeled off a list of private sector accomplishments in this regard. He said, for example, that the services of the Town Planning Department were engaged to develop a plan for the town with $600,000 that was donated by the former Member of Parliament (MP), Desmond Leaky. The plan was completed and approved by the parish council in 1997.

In addition, he said, the Organisation of American States (OAS) had given them a US$100,000 grant, which was used to engage the services of a Canadian company to do a pre-feasibility study on sustainable heritage tourism. He added that the results have been very “favourable and successful”.

Custos Barrett pointed out also that this study had recommended the establishment of an interpretative slave museum since Falmouth had one of the ports where slaves came in. He said that plans to undertake this venture were in the planning stages, but admitted that no steps had yet been taken to get it underway.

Falmouth was also certified by the Government as a priority area for tourism development in 1997, and declared a national monument in 1997.

“The inhibiting part of it now is the state of the town. The state of the town is giving us a hard time. The general appearance and the cleanliness and the wastewater disposal are things that we seriously have to look at if we are going to attract people here,” Barrett said.

Meanwhile, mayor and parish council chairman, Joseph Wright, said that while he was cognisant of the need for infrastructure development in the town, the financial resources to effect them were simply not available.

“We have them all on our agenda to deal with, but if you don’t have the resources, you can’t do nothing,” Wright told the Observer.

But even as he complained of a lack of resources, president of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce, Florence Logan, has asserted that what Falmouth needs is to begin to lobby for financial resources. She contended that the town could no longer just accept what others saw fit to allocate to them.

“We are not making enough noise, and it is the people who make the most noise who get the money,” she said. “You have to be strident to get it because resources are scarce.”

The Chamber president was speaking to a meeting of interest groups at the Falmouth Town Hall Thursday night.