Kingston will be capital city of the Caribbean, says Mayor Williams
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Mayor of Kingston, Senator Delroy Williams says that under his tenure Kingston will become the capital city of the Caribbean.
“We must take advantage of Kingston’s position as a cultural leader in music and Jamaica’s position as a global superpower in sports and cuisine. People all over the world are intrigued by Kingston as the home of Reggae music icons like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, living legends like Toots Hibbert, Shaggy and Shaun Paul, they know about jerk food and other delicacies and we now have the essential infrastructure in terms of hotel rooms to make this feasible,” he said.
The mayor added that in order to achieve that goal he will be moving fast to establish an advisory board to speed up efforts geared at redeveloping and rebranding Kingston.
“The multi-sectoral board will be tasked with leveraging the historic and cultural attributes of the Capital to position the city as a world leading destination for travellers and the introduction of cruise ships into the Kingston Harbour,” Williams said, adding that the board will be charged with developing benchmarks with clear timelines for implementation as quickly as possible.
He also made reference to Kingston’s recent UNESCO designation as a Creative City of Music, as well as that leading American newspaper, the New York Times, has rated the city as one of the top 52 Best Places to go in 2017, the highest ranking of any Caribbean city.
The Mayor noted that emphasis will be placed on promoting increased economic activity downtown Kingston; improving public order particularly with regard to vending and transportation; and the rehabilitation of the port with the aim of attracting cruise ships to dock in the city.
