HAGUE, Trelawny — Western Jamaica businessman Gordon Baldie has revealed plans to transform a warehouse, which formerly housed a garment factory in Hague, Trelawny, into a massive one-stop recycling plant.

“Our intention is to set up a one-stop shop for recycling, including electrical vehicle batteries and traditional motor batteries; fabric, plastics, rubber, tyre, maybe lubricant recycling – as I said one stop, so whatever the trends,” Baldie explained.

He further explained: “We are going to start with plastics. We will be able to create roofing materials, fencing for homes, road construction material, bottles, and furniture.”

Already, Baldie, who now enjoys a five-year lease of the Trelawny property from the Factories Corporation of Jamaica, has also identified JXB, a firm from China with expertise in recycling as partners.

“I currently have a facility which I have leased for the past five years. We plan to outfit that to be our headquarters. So right now our Chinese partners are looking at doing some serious investments in the Trelawny area, bringing some employment, bring some serious investments, skills training, we want to be the beacon of the west,” Baldie argued.

Evan Bin Liu

, representative of JXB, is eager to get the recycling plant in Trelawny off the ground.

“We have been manufacturing medical products for over 23 years in China and we currently operate in the United States. From last year we have been focusing on recycling. We have a branch in Kenya and they are using our technology,” Liu told the Jamaica Observer West.

Liu revealed that currently he has equipment valued at US$1.4 million in China, ready to be shipped to Jamaica to set up at a facility in Trelawny, but he is pleading with the Government to waive fees to bring in the equipment.

“The machines are ready. We just need some waiver from the Government to bring them in. When we produce panels and sell them back to the Government,” Liu stated.

Baldie is now seeking a meeting with Trelawny Northern Member of Parliament Tova Hamilton and the “relevant government agencies” to secure incentives to get the project off the ground.

“We already secured the equipment. Now we need some incentives from the Government to bring in those equipment duty free, and the factory that I have leased, we want to retrofit it. So we want to invite the Member of Parliament to a meeting, to have her see what we are about to do and so it is a win-win for Jamaica and Jamaicans,” Baldie argued.

He explained that the novel coronavirus pandemic slowed the project, but now his team is moving expeditiously to regain lost ground.

“COVID has affected us, it has set it back. Now that everything is opening up back we are making a special plea to the Member of Parliament and the state agencies, the minister of finance, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Investment to come on board with us and assist us because we cannot afford for these investments not to come to Jamaica and, especially, Trelawny, because everything goes to St Catherine and Kingston. We think the time has come to bring these kinds of investments to western Jamaica urgently,” he argued.