POINT, Westmoreland – The development of the Lucea Harbour in Hanover is being put on the back burner and priority given to the construction of a US$150-million hotel development in Point, just outside of the town of Lucea.

Construction of the five-star hotel, to be built on 200 acres of land by Fiesta Hotels, should begin in December 2005 to January 2006, and is scheduled to take approximately 14 months to complete.

Prime Minister P J Patterson gave details on these developments on Friday, while addressing a Hanover investment workshop at the Grand Lido Hotel in Negril.

Patterson said a significant amount of preliminary work had been carried out and money spent, with respect to determining the feasibility of developing the harbour. But he said a number of negative factors that surfaced with respect to that project, noting that it was during the deliberations on the project that Spanish interest, through the Fiesta Hotel group, was shown in developing a hotel in the Point area.

“We had to look at, from the planning point of view, whether the two things could co-exist, and we came to the conclusion after very intensive consideration and examination, that area could take one of the two projects, not both,” Patterson said.

“The hotel, that is going to be constructed, is one of the largest that will be built in Jamaica, at a cost of US$150 million. It will of course provide opportunities for transport operators, as would the case of the cruise ship. It will provide opportunities for people to be engaged in selling souvenir items, as would the case of cruise ships. It would also have inbond facilities, as would be the case of cruise ships, and it would employ 2,000 people on a permanent basis,” the prime minister said.

He urged those in attendance at the workshop to amalgamate the development of the Fiesta Hotel in the Point area within their development plans for the parish.

Several private sector business leaders, and entrepreneurs, as well as leaders within government agencies and social support groups from within the parish attended the workshop.

Patterson also mentioned that an agreement had been reached with the Fiesta group to work in tandem with the government and any developer that may come forward, to develop Fort Charlotte and its surrounding areas in Lucea, into a cultural heritage site.