Artisan Village in Trelawny should be completed by end of November
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.
