PRIME Minister Andrew Holness says his Government is committed to protecting the Montego Bay coastline.

Under the ongoing Montego Bay Waterfront Rehabilitation Project, groynes are being built and rehabilitated to reduce the loss of beachfront acreage to coastal erosion and protect valuable coastal resources along the Montego Bay waterfront and marine ecosystems in the area.

These include the recently developed Harmony Beach Park as well as the Walter Fletcher and Gun Point beaches.

“The Government of Jamaica is going to spend a further $328 million this year… in building more groynes and protective structures, to ensure that the same land we had dumped up years ago, we don’t lose it in years to come and that the beach that has been created or naturally created in some instances, we don’t lose those beaches,” Holness said.

“So we are making the investment in the capital infrastructure around these lands to protect them, because there are other projects to come, other major projects to come,” stated Holness.

He was addressing the official opening of the Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay, St James, recently.

The Montego Bay Waterfront Rehabilitation Project is being implemented by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), with funding from the Government of Jamaica.

Following an extension, the project, which began in April 2019, is scheduled to end in March 2023.

Meanwhile, the prime minister also noted that the oceanarium, soon to be constructed in Montego Bay, will not only serve as an attraction for visitors to the island, but also as an educational experience for the nation’s children.

An oceanarium is a large seawater aquarium in which marine animals are kept for study and public entertainment.

“This is something to come to Montego Bay to see and experience, not just for foreigners visiting but also for schoolchildren, who want to understand what is under the sea, but may not be able to dive to see it,” Holness noted.

“So it is also educational, and it would be the only one of its kind in the Caribbean when it is done,” he added.

The Harmony Beach Park, which was developed at a cost of $1.3 billion, was undertaken by the UDC at the area formerly known as Dump Up Beach.

Funding was provided by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Among the amenities on the 16-acre park are 132 parking spaces, restroom facilities, an activity centre, a jogging trail, a promenade along the beach, a multipurpose court and free WI-FI access.