BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western Floyd Green says the rebirth of this historically rich south-central town and its potential of greater heritage tourism is expected to include vast digital transformation.

Speaking at Thursday’s launch of a Wi-Fi hot spot in Black River, Green said the transformation will lead to the parish capital becoming Jamaica’s first interactive cultural heritage destination.

“When people come into the town as tourists, the first thing they do is to take out their phone and try to go on a Wi-Fi system because they want to share their experience,” he said.

“We have set up some storyboards throughout the town and now with this public Wi-Fi… we are going to input a QR code on the storyboard,” he added.

He said the integration of technology will enhance the experience in how “you will hear and feel the history of Black River”.

“We are going to be doing a new mural, where you come into the town and that mural is going to be equipped with [augmented] reality, so when you go and you scan it, you will see the mural come to life,” he said.

“We are also going to be doing a new streetscape,” he added.

Green, pointing to Black River’s history, said it was the first town in the island to receive electricity in 1893 in a house named Waterloo.

“We believe we have a competitive advantage in cultural heritage tourism because we have probably the richest history of a capital town throughout Jamaica,” he said.

“Not only were we the first to get electricity. Not only were we the first to have a motor car, but we were also a slave trading port,” he added.

The Zong monument, which reflects on the massacre of 132 Africans — 122 of whom had been thrown overboard — before the arrival of the Zong slave ship at Black River in December 1781, is a part of Green’s vision for heritage tourism.

He is anticipating the start of the “Zong experience” this year, citing Jamaica’s 60th Independence anniversary celebration.

Green said the integration of heritage tourism is vital to the town’s rebirth, which was once full of activity.

“There was a time when Black River was a bustling town [where] you used to have ships on top of ships coming into the port. They used to trade in logwood when logwood was [used to make] dye — and it was high-priced material. Those days are gone,” he said.