ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says that the town of Falmouth in Trelawny is set to become the first heritage township destination in Jamaica.

He said the ministry is looking at heritage town models across the world to see what best practices can be adopted to suit the area.

“We have seen what several of our neighbour’s have done with heritage towns and how these towns have not only been transformed, but have become transformative,” he said.

“It is that formula that we want to put into Falmouth to not just transform Falmouth into a heritage township par excellence, but we want Falmouth to be a transformative town that changes the lives of the people who live in this community,” the minister added.

He was addressing a Trelawny Chamber of Commerce and Industry luncheon at the Falmouth cruise-ship pier on November 19.

Minister Bartlett noted that the government has obtained assistance from international planners and thinkers in ensuring that the right structures are created to ensure the sustainability of Falmouth, which will become the prototype for the development of other heritage towns across the island.

“One thing that I want to say very clear… is that we are committed to getting it right… because we believe that Falmouth represents the greatest potential for an iconic attraction in Jamaica today,” he said.

Bartlett said that Trelawny is set to become a dominant player in the tourism sector, with a number of projects to come on stream.

“In the next three years, a minimum of 3,000 new rooms are going to be in the Trelawny area.  The Oyster Bay project… is scheduled to commence, and ground breaking is set to take place within the next four weeks for 300 new rooms to start and another 450 rooms six months after the ground breaking,” Minister Bartlett said.

He said there is another investor who wants to build 750 rooms in the Silver Sands area, and the project is set to begin during the first quarter of next year.

The breaking of ground for the Harmony Cove project is also scheduled for 2017.

The tourism minister said discussions are under way for other hotel expansion projects.