CLARK’S TOWN, Trelawny — On the campaign trail, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has promised residents of Clark’s Town in Trelawny a bag of goodies, telling them to brace themselves for economic spin-offs that will transform their 180-year-old community. He has pointed to plans to soon break ground for more than 700 houses, just one of several major developments planned.

“Just a stone’s throw away from here there is a place named Parnassus. The Government of Jamaica, through the Housing Agency of Jamaica, will be building 720 new housing solutions. We will be breaking ground for that this year; in fact, in another couple months. When those are built you are going to have an influx of new people coming into the area in addition to the people who live in the area, who will get some of those houses,” Holness told Labourites who converged on Clark’s Town Square last Saturday.

“So the population around here is going to increase a little bit. What it means is that people who own shop space in this area [are] going to see an increase in their business. When the people of Clark’s Town and other areas get job and get money, what dem going do with it? Dem going come back a Clark’s Town and dem going [to] want spend. Sooner or later, you going [to] have two other supermarkets, couple beauty salons, you going have all kind a business. And Clark’s Town is going to become its own urban centre in rural Jamaica. We are the ones to see that transformation happen and that is going to improve your quality of life,” he added.

Among the projects slated for the new “urban centre” is the long-awaited US$1-billion Harmony Cove resort project. The first phase will be a 25-storey hotel tower with 1,000 first-class hotel rooms. In addition, the 700-room RIU Aquarelle is slated to open in the parish in May. Holness stressed that they were being done “under Labour Party Government”.

“Where will the people get housing from who going [to] work there? We have to build house inna these places. The people from here going get work there,” he promised.

Turning his attention to the worrying issue of bad roads in and leading into the community, the prime minister gave residents an assurance that they will be addressed, pointing to what he said is his Administration’s track record of repairing more roads than the PNP. Holness gloated over the new highway in St Thomas, the highway that runs “from May Pen to Williamsfield”, as well as work taking place on the Montego Bay perimeter road.

“I understand now that the people saying, ‘Prime minister, you see the new road? You see the new this? You see the new that? We want it in Clark’s Town too’. And I say to the people of Clark’s Town, ‘You don’t have to argue, you don’t have to complain. Your prime minister understand it, your prime minister believes that you deserve to get the same new road, the same water and the same housing that is going on elsewhere in Jamaica’,” Holness said.

“Your Government is going to make sure that your town does not end up being a chaotic town like some of the others — congested and you can’t find place to walk. So before that happens, we are going to look at this town carefully, look at the layout of it, make sure that we put in proper sidewalk, that we identify a place for taxis to park, that we improve your garbage collection, and that we put in place a proper place for your parking. So we are going to change Clark’s Town into a proper town,” he vowed.

Under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme, the Government is preparing to implement a $40-billion road improvement project to modernise more than 2,000 roads islandwide. Holness stressed that Clark’s Town roads will benefit from that initiative.

“We have allocated over $20 billion to fix local roads. I guarantee you that that road that I drive in will be one of the roads to be repaired. That road has to go through consultation but I know that any consultation that take place everybody in this division will agree that that road must be repaired. So your road will be repaired, you don’t have to worry about it,” he said.

Holness was speaking after a tour of the Trelawny Northern constituency with Member of Parliament Tova Hamilton and councillor candidates.