RECENTLY elected head of the Negril Chamber of Commerce, hotelier Kenrick Davis, has big plans for the organisation; plans which will include an emphasis on environmental issues as well as forging stronger ties with the international business community.

“I’m looking at maybe twinning the Chamber with one overseas that is like-minded,” said Davis. “And we’re looking at blue flag certification which deals with a community-oriented approach to environmental issues. “We are committed to working with environmental groups,” he added.

Davis, who has operated the Sunshine Village Complex for the past six years, holds directorships at both the Coral Reef Preservation Society and the Negril Environmental Protection Trust. He is also heavily involved in the thrust, which got underway last year, to market the resort town as a destination.

“The marketing of Negril is in full gear,” he said Thursday. “I just got back from a tour with a travel writer, and they are to come back in March to do some filming.”

According to Davis, the aim is to get Negril mentioned in at least 15 major media houses per year. They have already started to revamp the Chamber’s website, and they are also working with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), which has promised to match funds raised locally for the marketing thrust.

But the new president is concerned about the delays in the completion of the North Coast Highway project, which is supposed to make the journey from Montego Bay to Negril a lot easier.

Last year, the transport ministry steadily insisted that work should have been “substantially completed” by the end of 2001. But according to Davis, he received reports that areas that were paved have been dug up again. He added that he was unable to get answers regarding the new completion date.

“I am very concerned, because people are asking questions, and I really don’t have any answers,” he said. “Every time I ask for a deadline I can’t get any answers.”

He said he intends to invite transport minister, Robert Pickersgill, to a Chamber meeting in a bid to get an update on the incomplete project which has made travelling to Negril a living hell.

“They should have at least prepared an alternate route in a way that people could drive on it comfortably,” Davis charged. “If they had fixed the Long Hill Road properly, people would not be too inconvenienced about the status of the coastal road (which is under repair).”

The new president, who replaced Cliff Reynolds, added that his plans for the Chamber would build on the accomplishments of his predecessors. And he maintained that his years of experience, which include head of the local chapter of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, (JHTA) had prepared him well for the task.

“I have broad shoulders,” Davis said with a chuckle.