THE 11-storey, 200-room Forum Hotel and its 57 cottages in Portmore, St Catherine, have been scrapped of all fixtures, including the entire elevator system, presumably by vandals seeking to cash in on the lucrative scrap metal trade.

Gone too are all the glass windows, sliding doors, carpeting, bathroom fittings, electrical sockets, light bulbs, air-conditioning units, and just about everything of value which was left behind when the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the State agency that manages the property, stopped providing security.

Today, after several failed attempts by successive administrations to divest this “white elephant”, all that is left of the complex, which was used in the 1970s to film part of Jamaica’s hit movie Smile Orange, are just the walls and roofs.

People roam the rundown property freely, gaining access through a hole in the padlocked front gate or via the beach.

Outside of two families, who now occupy cottages, the 11-storey hotel is also said to attract squatters who are not daunted by the daily trek up to the 10th floor.

“One and two people live up on the top floor yes,” said a man who gave his name only as Leonard who resides in one of the cottages.

He escorted the Jamaica Observer news team up the 10 flights of stairs to the roof, which offers a breathtaking view of Kingston and St Catherine as well as the nearby cays.

“Even after the last people leave, AC (air conditioner) did still in there, and people use to come in and sleep under air condition and them even did have TVs left in every room, but people scrap everything,” said Leonard, as he pointed to the debris now littering every room where vandals destroyed some of the items when they ripped them out in their rush to tear them from the walls and floors.

The Forum Hotel, located at one end of the infamous ‘Back Road’ on Port Henderson, Road opened in early 1973 as the Adventure Inn, as part of a move to develop tourism in that section of the island.

In 1978, it ceased operation as a hotel and in 1987 the building was handed over to the health ministry, but was returned to the UDC in 1995.

However, for years, the massive building and its self-contained, two-bedroom cottages, situated on 6.73 hectares (15.759 acres), have remained idle.

Over the last two decades, there have been various expressions of interest in the property and announcements of acquisitions made. However, to date, none has materialised.

The cottages were first advertised by the UDC for sale in August 1996 and a decision taken that prospective buyers would be invited to apply through the National Housing Trust after the cottages were refurbished.

However, in March 1997, when the refurbishing was not done, the UDC changed its plans, deciding instead to choose prospective buyers from the 7,000 applicants through a lottery system.

That plan, however, failed to get off the ground and scores of squatters made the cottages their homes for years.

Among the entities which have expressed interest in the property over the years is Northern Caribbean University, which confirmed in 2000 that it was eying the facility as it looked to expand its operations into the Corporate Area.

In 2006, a legal tussle emerged between the UDC and the Jamaica Christian College which had leased the facility.

The UDC claimed that the college had decided to end its 30-year lease agreement to make way for another entity, while the Rev Dr Wellesley Blair, who had signed the lease on behalf of the college four years prior, said they only gave up the property with the expectation that certain conditions would be met.

In 2002, then UDC Chairman Dr Vin Lawrence had announced that the property was being leased to the college for 30 years, with an option to renew or purchase. The lease payment, he had said, was $180,000 monthly and the church college was given a moratorium on payments for three years.

The facility has also been used to provide short-term accommodation for personnel working on several government projects, while proposals for its long-term use were being pursued. Among the proposals were a training facility for nurses, relocating the Eventide Home for the aged, and converting the towers to apartments and selling the cottages.

In May 2009, then Prime Minister Bruce Golding confirmed that a group, led by a Jamaican resident in the United States, was in line to buy the property for use as a medical facility and nursing school.

“They have actually made an offer; it is a substantial offer. We have asked for a verification of the financing available before we can refer the matter to the privatisation committee for consideration,” Golding said then.

By December of that year, the then mayor of Portmore Keith Hinds announced that the overseas medical group was in the final stages of negotiation with the UDC to take over the property.

“The UDC has found a buyer after 20 years,” Hinds declared, adding that inspections have proved the 30-year-old building structurally sound.

Hinds, who declined then to disclose the name of the potential buyer or purchase price, said that he had personally walked through the hotel with numerous investors from all over the world.

Only last February, Minister of Local Government Noel Arscott said that his ministry was eying the facility as a possible headquarters for the Portmore Municipal Council.

In March this year, general manager of the UDC, Desmond Malcolm, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament that the entity might finally be able to rid itself of the loss-making facility.

“We are, in general, discussing the sale of that property…(with) interested parties,” Malcolm told the PAC, further explaining that the UDC was talking with one individual, however others had indicated an interest.

But residents of Port Henderson Road say they have lost hope that the property will ever be restored to its former glory as they are convinced that no buyer will be willing to acquire it in its current state.

In fact, the residents said that they had lost count of the number of persons who had turned up to look, with a view of purchasing.

“One time, all some Arab-looking men dressed in dem long gown come and look pon it, but nobody no seem to want to pay what the Government asking fi it,” said one resident.

“All the Education Minister Ronnie Thwaites came to look at it not so long ago, but nobody nuh seem interested in it when them see how it mash up now,” he added.

According to the resident, representatives from the UDC were recently there surveying the property.

Residents said that the facility used to bring a lot of life to the Port Henderson community, especially when its bar and restaurant were open.

“When it was open, people would full up the beach on Sunday, but now nutten much nah happen in the community,” a resident said.

A young man, who identified himself only as Marlon, and who was seen on the 10th floor during the Sunday Observer’s visit, said that had the hotel been operational, there would not have been so many unemployed youth in the municipality.

“Dem (government) need to do something fi mek people benefit. So if the building nuh good dem need fi lick it down and use the land fi something else weh can help the community,” he said, adding that the municipality will fast become a ghetto if nothing is put in place to address the high levels of unemployment.

Meanwhile, Leonard, who moved to one of the cottages three years ago, said that he would live there until it is sold, as he had nowhere else to go, having lost his house to arsonists.

According to Leonard, the many families who were squatting in the cottages were chased out by a political activist.

“Dem did come beat out the people with pickaxe fi dem leave and it did better dem did leave the people in dere because dem did paint it up and keep it good, and if them did still dere dem wouldn’t mash up like this,” he said, pointing to the cottages now almost covered by shrub.