The people who live and work in Kingston must be as puzzled as we are when we hear leaders of Government and the private sector talk about the rebuilding of the city of Kingston while moving offices and employment from the city.

In spite of the oft repeated promises of redevelopment, there has been a persistent and systematic abandonment of the city of Kingston. It is such a great waste because Kingston is sited on one of the most beautiful natural harbours in the world against the backdrop of the incredible Blue Mountains and spread over a gently sloping plain cooled by the fresh breeze of the Caribbean Sea.

First, the rich progressively move farther and farther away from Kingston into St Andrew in the quest of large plots of land amenable to palatial residences. Then came the relocation of the commercial centre of Kingston to a horse-racing track in St Andrew. Then the wharves were moved to Newport West.

When the prime minister’s residence in St Andrew, situated on part of the lands of King’s House, was used as the Office of the Prime Minister it moved the heart of government out of Kingston. No wonder that the redevelopment of the waterfront area ran out of steam. There was not enough economic life support for further redevelopment.

Successive governments of both political parties have been guilty of saying the right things but doing the opposite. The double standard is borne out by the actions not done. Instead, government offices have been moved out of Kingston and into St Andrew.

The excuse is that the city of Kingston is insanitary and too dangerous because of crime.

Early last year, we watched with interest the gathering momentum to restore life to downtown Kingston. Tax incentives encouraged a few large companies to relocate their headquarters there. The expectation, as we stated before, is that more businesses, including government entities, will follow.

Last year April, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) revealed that it planned to build a multifaceted ‘festival marketplace’ on 8.9 acres, describing it as one more element in the development of the Kingston waterfront. That, we hold, is a good project which, hopefully, will not be affected by the change in Administration.

The new Government, we suggest, should bear in mind that any effort to revitalise downtown Kingston must involve the thousands of people, many of whom live in squalor, in dilapidated tenement yards in that area of the capital.

That, as former UDC Chairman K D Knight noted last year, requires a transformative improvement of the housing stock downtown. “We want people who live here to live in better conditions; we want people who live elsewhere now, to come downtown,” Mr Knight said at the time.

He is, of course, correct, so let us get this more the overdue project done.