JAMPRO’s chief executive officer (CEO), Patricia Francis, this week challenged the Westmoreland Environs Development Company (WEDCO) to adopt production strategies that will allow them to take advantage of the resources in the parish and meet the demands of the growing population.

“The truth is,” she argued, “we do not value what is ours. Other people are taking our culture and making money out of it. It is time we form alliances and take control of what is ours,” Francis urged.

She alluded to the fast rate at which the population of Savanna-la-Mar was growing and the attendant disadvantages, such as pressure on the infrastructure, solid waste disposal, congestion and the depletion of the fish population, as a case in point.

Francis was the guest speaker at WEDCO’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.

At this meeting, she also addressed grouses that have been raised by a number of people over plans by the Riu Group to build another hotel in Negril.

Members of the Negril Chamber of Commerce, for example, have expressed concern about the current rates charged by Riu, which they argued was the engine used to take away business from small hotels.

But Francis dismissed these complaints, arguing instead that survival was dependent on the quality of a product and the service. In fact, Francis informed her audience that a challenge to one person represented an opportunity to another.

“There are opportunities out there which you are dealing with everyday, but you must deal with quality and you must deal with service,” Francis told the WEDCO group.

But outgoing chairman and Westmoreland Custos, Owen Sinclair stressed that WEDCO was formed with exactly this purpose in mind –attracting investment in the parish and formulating a strong economic base there.

He noted, however, that a lack of information and educational facilities was a hindrance to the achievement of some of these objectives. But Sinclair said his organisation was taking steps to alleviate these obstacles. For instance, he pointed out that WEDCO was instrumental in establishing a tertiary education campus at the Manning’s School and also assisted in realising the IT Centre, Westcom, which employs more than 100 youth.

In addition, plans are far advanced for the establishment of a community college that will operate in collaboration with the Montego Bay Community College and offer associate degrees, diplomas, advanced level and CXC courses.

Meanwhile, Westcom’s managing director and the newly elected WEDCO chairman, Norman Anderson, said he would set up a WEDCO website to provide information on finances and business. Anderson also said that during his tenure, he would ensure that aquaculture and horticulture issues were addressed.