ST JAMES, Jamaica — St Thomas, a parish that has for years been yearning for further development, is slated to get a major boost with the establishment of a new town centre for the capital, Morant Bay.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the new town centre will be constructed on the 25-acre lot, which previously housed the Goodyear tyre factory in Morant Bay which has been closed for the past 20 years.

“The government will take that space and we will, literally on the 25 acres that it occupies, we will create a new town centre for Morant Bay,” said Holness.

The disclosure was made by the prime minister on Thursday night during his keynote address of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Jamaica International Exhibition opening ceremony being held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James. The three-day exhibition ends today.

Holness said the new town centre will have space for local government, commercial activities among others.

The prime minister added that his Government’s aim is to build an ecosystem for business while at the same time creating an organised township.

Holness said such a town centre is something he hopes to have replicated across the island.

The move by the Government is more good news for the people of St Thomas who have said in the past that they felt forgotten.

Just last year, Holness assured the parish that they will be getting a “re-scoped” South Coast Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP), which will see a reduction in cost from the original US$504 million to US$384 million.

The project will entail a four-lane highway from Harbour View to Bull Bay, and the upgrading of three roads between Bull Bay and Morant Bay.

Anthony Lewis