A Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) plan to redevelop the capital is to receive a US$253,000 World Bank grant that will be used for research in preparation for the project.

Kingston mayor, Marie Atkinson, told the KSAC’s monthly council meeting at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston on Tuesday that the local government body had successfully negotiated with Cities Alliance, a World Bank programme that grants development funding to cities worldwide, for assistance in the preparation of the plan.

“The KSAC and its parish development committee will receive a grant of US$253,124,” the mayor told councillors.

In addition to research, the money is to pay for administrative work and development of a blueprint that will identify the areas for social, economic, infrastructural, educational and cultural change in the Corporate Area.

The grant will also be used to carry out research on poverty alleviation, public order management, squatting and development of guidelines for zoning of commercial and residential communities.

Councillor Victor Cummings (PNP, Allman Town Division) told the Observer that the process of launching a development plan began in October last year with an interim executive body. He said a series of meetings were held, out of which came two consultative workshops and the over 200 persons who attended developed a 12-month work plan which eventually became the Kingston and St Andrew sustainable development plan.

“I am very excited,” said Cummings, who estimated that the overall development plan should cost about $20 million. “It will help us to immediately begin to gather research information on the city, employ an administrative assistant for the Parish Development Committee, and also find an office for the committee.” According to Cummings, the KSAC had tried to get a development plan in place two-and-a-half years ago. He said that the last development order prepared for Kingston was 40 years old.

He admitted that the fund was not enough but said it would take the programme to a significant point where most of the paperwork to begin the infrastructural work would be documented.

Meanwhile, the council passed a resolution approving the research project and said that it fully recognises the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Development Committee (KSAPDC) as a partner in the implementation of the local government reform policy. The council, which also acknowledged the KSAPDC’s role in the city’s development process, also said that the KSAC has enlisted the full participation of the Social Development Commission, Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, National Environment and Planning Agency, Town Planning Department, Urban Development Corporation, National Development and Planning Agency and the Kingston Restoration Company.