KENDAL, Manchester — A large information, communication and technology (ICT) facility now nearing completion at Ward Avenue in this south central town could begin its employment phase in “summer” (mid-year), says Member of Parliament for Central Manchester Peter Bunting.

The MP told the Jamaica Observer Central by phone on Friday that his assessment is based on “discussion” and his own “sense” of what remains to be done in terms of final touches and the equipping of the facility for ICT operations.

Bunting said he believes that in the medium term, within two to three years, up to 2,000 jobs could be created, benefiting persons with varying skill sets.

Late last year, Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell identified construction firm Black Brothers Inc, which owns the building; Kingston-based construction giant Tankweld; and the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) as “main investors” in the project, which is providing 70,000 square feet of ICT space.

Paulwell said at the time that it was his understanding that the US-based Sutherland Global Services, which already operates ICT services at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and elsewhere in Jamaica, was a front-runner to manage the Ward Avenue facility.

Bunting said last Friday that over time, other players are expected in the ICT industry in Central Jamaica.

ICT is being touted as the next major industry and employer of labour in Mandeville and the wider Central Jamaica following the closure of operations at Alpart and Kirkvine bauxite/alumina plants in 2009. The bauxite/alumina sector is expected to regain some vitality with the resumption of bauxite mining in St Elizabeth this year and the reopening of Alpart next year.

Speaking recently at a forum in Kendal, Mandeville Mayor Brenda Ramsay said most job applicants for the ICT centre on Ward Avenue were coming from neighbouring Clarendon and St Elizabeth, not Manchester.

Ramsay, who was responding to a comment from a member of the audience that more funding was needed to address youth unemployment, said school leavers in Manchester should be more proactive in taking advantage of the chances available to better their lives.

She said that too many of them, while complaining that “nutten nah gwaan”, are not making the effort to change their situation.

“The fact of the matter is that there are opportunities for young people to go and get upgraded in certain things and many of them are not taking that opportunity. HEART (Trust/NTA) is begging people to come on stream and be trained, they are asking people to come in, in the NYS (National Youth Service) so that they can be trained and employed, and most times the persons who come to my office seeking employment are the parents and grandparents seeking for their children,” said Ramsay.

“We have to make a paradigm shift from what is happening now and the youngsters have to be taught that they must take responsibility for their lives. We have the ICT centre, which I am sure everybody knows is coming on stream, and… the majority of the applicants are coming from Clarendon and St Elizabeth, not Manchester. We need to wake up and our young people need to wake up and understand that this cannot continue where they sit by and say ‘nutten nah gwaan’. Nothing will ever go on for them until they want it to happen for them,” Ramsay added.

The proposed ICT facility on Ward Avenue in Mandeville is close to completion. (PHOTO: GREGORY BENNETT)