LUCEA, Hanover – With several tourism-related projects in the pipeline for the coastal section of Hanover, Ian Hayles, the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) candidate for Western Hanover, confident of victory in the upcoming general elections, says he has already started to make preparations for his constituents to capitalise on the projects.

“The parish (Hanover) is poised for growth,” Hayles said.

“Already, I have spoken to at least three of the investors who are interested in putting up hotels in the parish and based on the discussions, I have started to look on how best to prepare the citizens to capitalise on these developments,” he added.

Hayles did not name the investors nor did he say where in the parish the developments will take place, but Lucea’s mayor, Vasca Brown, confirmed that a number of investors have expressed interest in investing huge sums in the parish.

“There are at least four different groups, at least two from Spain which are in negotiations with persons in the parish to acquire property to build hotels,” he told the Observer.

Some of the investors, he added, are looking at a 200-acre property in the Green Island area, while another is looking at a 50-acre property, also in Green Island.

Investors are also said to be looking at establishing a marina, near Hanover’s capital, Lucea, while Dolphin Cove plans to set up a seaside nature park in that area.

Just last year, construction began for the US$150-million Fiesta Hotel, at Point, which is expected to be completed next year.

Hanoverians have long argued that the parish’s growth and development have been seriously affected by a lack of employment opportunities, a lack of investment and the largely unskilled labour force.

A 2003 Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) report indicates that roughly 3,200 people of the parish’s labour force of 27,000 are unemployed.

Yesterday, Hayles told the Observer that part of his plans to address the worrying matter of the unskilled labour force is to work in collaboration with HEART/ NTA to set up a training centre at an abandoned factory in Lucea.

“The training facility will ensure that young people within the constituency of Western Hanover in particular, will get a chance to learn a trade,” he noted. “I won’t be able to give everyone a job but if I can help someone to get a skill I am ensuring that wherever in the world that person goes he can show his certificate and get work,” added the PNP representative.

If successful at the August 27 polls, Hayles also plans to create what he described as “a hip strip” – similar to the one established years ago in the resort city of Montego Bay – in the town of Lucea.

“With the amount of tourists that pass through Lucea to go to Montego Bay and Negril on a daily basis, we will have to create a ‘hip strip’ so that tourists can spend time and shop in a beautiful environment,” he argued.

He stressed that the historic Fort Charlotte would also play a vital part in the development of the tourism product in the Lucea area.

Hayles, who replaced the PNP’s Ralston Anson as the party’s representative in the area just over a year ago, says discussions are well advanced with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) in an effort to breathe new life into the parish’s ailing agricultural sector.

“Agriculture needs a new look and so I have been having talks with RADA because I want to introduce a number of initiatives, such as hydroponics to the area,” he stressed.

“With all these new hotel developments coming to Western Hanover, we want to ensure that the expected influx of visitors to the parish will be well fed,” he added.