EXECUTIVE Director of the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo) Dennis Hickey said the entity is working to improve and develop attraction sites across the island.

Hickey, who was speaking at a Lion’s Club of Kingston luncheon in Kingston yesterday, said his team is working to rehabilitate Devon House by constructing a “new and bigger ice cream facility”, restoring electrical lighting, improving the fencing, installing a new gate on the Waterloo side, as well as implementing a multi-purpose centre and additional walkways.

Hickey also announced that TPDCo is also looking to improve and redevelop the Papine Square and create and develop what he described as “an elegant corridor in Kingston”. This corridor, he said, would include the area spanning the Sir Florizel Glasspole Highway and Norman Manley Boulevard, South Camp Road into New Kingston.

“I am pleased to say that plans are afoot to develop the Harbour View Round-about, which will create a visually stimulating centrepiece for those traversing that route,” he said.

Hickey said the Milk River Hotel and Spa is among the list of resorts to be improved. Design plans, he said, are being finalised to include restoration of the bath, entry façade, foyer, dining room, roofing, electrical works and the creation of an entertainment facility in the pool area.

He said the investments are being made to ensure that the resort achieve its full potential in being competitive on the market. One way in which this has been done is through the improvement of the roadways, which he said was a deterrent to persons visiting the facility.

According to Hickey, Lover’s Leap, Milk River Bath, the Norman Manley Beach Park are all resorts to be improved and rehabilitated by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

Hickey also said that the renovation of the Harbour Street Craft Market, in Montego Bay, is almost completed and the Montego Bay corridor will soon be affixed with the lighting it has been awaiting.

He said TPDCo is working to enhance the visual appeal of Negril as they will also be reconstructing and modernising the craft and fishing village in that area.

Not only is TPDCo focusing on improving the appearance of resorts but they are also looking to better crime management with relation to the tourism sector and tourism communities.

Hickey said he is working in tandem with the TEF and the Ministry of National Security to allow for the rehabilitation of police stations as well as providing softer policing in resort areas. They’re also seeking approval to institute an anti-harrassment team.