ADELPHI, St James – POINTING to the community’s recently opened health centre, its still fairly new police station after an upgrade in 2021, the relatively low levels of crime, and a modest uptick in economic activity, Councillor Mark McGann (Jamaica Labour Party, Somerton Division) is urging more businesses to pump their money into Adelphi.

“It’s a good community to invest in. It’s relatively peaceful, come on in! It’s available;, there are people moving here; and the spaces are here, there is land here — we are ready for the investment,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

With the area “heavily invested in farming”, he said, businesses that may do well include a gas station, wholesaler and a farm store.

“These are some of what we would want from the business community to bring to Adelphi,” the councillor urged.

He is heartened by the roadwork being done, convinced that improved infrastructure will make the community even more attractive. He believes the area is ripe for development by savvy members of the private sector.

“We’ve had a lot of new people moving into the area, a lot of these are middle-class professionals. Because Adelphi ties into Falmouth and Montego Bay, lots of persons are moving to the space,” McGann told Observer West.

“We have six primary schools, and if you talk to the principals of those primary schools they will tell you that for the last year and into this year, they have had more interest from persons inquiring about their children attending schools than ever before. People are moving into the community,” he added.

The locally elected official said he has seen signs of interest from the business community but he is hoping for more.

“I have seen two new restaurants open since January and we’ve had a Chinese gentleman who has moved into the area and opened a wholesale,” he stated. “Adelphi is once again becoming what it was when, a long time ago, sugar was king.”

With other sections of St James, as well as the nearby parish of Hanover, reeling from a recent upsurge in crime, McGann said Adelphi is also attractive because it is “relatively safe”.

“At present we have 17 persons stationed at the police station in Adelphi. We are not going to tell you it’s adequate based on what is happening, but the space is relatively safe,” he assured.