Minister of Tourism, Edmund Barlett, says construction of the Artisan

Village at the Hampden Wharf in Falmouth, Trelawny, will be completed by the

end of next month.

The Minister, who spoke to journalists after a tour of the site on

October 17, said the project was delayed, “but we have been assured that we

will have the facilities completed by the end of November. Hopefully (by) the

start of the winter activities …we would be able to at least have the

facilities ready for artisans and entrepreneurs to come in.”

The artisan village, which will be the first on the island, forms part

of the US$5.7 million Hampden Wharf Development Project, being funded by the

Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

Bartlett noted that the village will provide a unique marketing

arrangement for artisans and craft entrepreneurs, as well as give visitors an

opportunity to experience something new.

“This is something new (and) different… because it offers an opportunity for marketing, while at the same time having expressions of the rich culture that Jamaica has to offer,” the Minister said.

“This is a real opportunity to take to another level the quality of

(Jamaica’s) offerings and to lift the spend of the tourists who come to the

island.”

The village will consist of 47 shops with five themed restaurants and

bars, 12 mini stalls, 18 artisan shops and 12 major shops on 1.6 hectares of

land owned by the Port Authority of Jamaica.

Other features of the Hampden Wharf Development Project include

extension of the port, paved surfaces and defined paths, landscaped areas,

storyboards where applicable, and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.