LUCEA, Hanover — Chairman of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) Sheridan Samuels has expressed hope that coming out of an inter-city friendship agreement signed between the corporation and the Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress (Government) in China on Monday, a Chinese-operated hotel will be established in the parish.

“We [Hanover] have some of the best and largest hotels. We have RUI, Sandals, Royalton, Hedonism, Tryall Golf Club and Round Hill Hotel, and I hope one day we can boast about having a Chinese hotel here in Hanover,” expressed Samuels, who is also the mayor of Lucea.

Samuels argued that apart from local hotel chains such as Sandals and Hedonism, “we have seen [the] Spanish, we have seen all other nations coming to Jamaica to build hotels and I haven’t seen to date where [there is] any Chinese hotels in Jamaica, and I stand corrected.”

“This is a market that we really want to break into because if you look at the population of China (1.4 billion), and if we get one per cent of that coming to Jamaica, Jamaica would benefit a whole lot. So, the Chinese market is really one that we want to open for our tourism product within the country itself,” added the chairman.

In addition, Samuels also indicated other areas of collaboration that are being sought by the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

These, he said, include the establishment of factories, assistance in overhauling the drainage system in the capital town Lucea, which will help to alleviate the flooding of sections of the town due to the overflow of the Lucea West River (Riley River) after heavy rainfall.

“We are going to talk to them to see how we can further develop the town of Lucea. The town is below sea level and they are willing to go all out to assist us on it (drains),” disclosed Samuels.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have proposed collaboration in the areas of agriculture, student exchange and sports.

Further discussions were scheduled to be held between both municipalities surrounding possible collaborations between both local government entities.

“Hanover is the pearl of Jamaica. Therefore, in the interest of continued dialogue and the promotion of ideas, the visit by you and your delegation reflects your interest to explore the possibilities of bilateral exchange across different fields,” said the HMC chairman in his address at the official signing ceremony between the two municipalities, held at the building that houses the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

The Chinese delegation was led by vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Huangshi Municipal People’s Congress, Wang Bin.

Deputy mayor of Lucea, Andria Dehaney Dinham, informed that discussions with the Chinese started in 2017 during her visit to China as part of an eight-member People’s National Party (PNP) delegation.