ALLIGATOR POND, Manchester — Prime minister and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Leader Andrew Holness says this south-central area, renowned for fishing and its cuisine, is to benefit from investments in tourism development to spur economic growth.

“Alligator Pond has the potential for tourism. In fact, the entire south coast
— between Manchester and St Elizabeth
— has great potential for tourism,” he said while addressing a JLP spot meeting in Alligator Pond square on Friday night as the party intensified campaigning for the February 26 Local Government Elections.

“Not every tourism area has hotels. You have different kinds of tourism, and the kind of tourism that we want to bring here is where the tourists come and spend their money with you and not necessarily with a hotel or a resort. We want them to come and experience the life that you experience,” added Holness.

The prime minister credited Manchester Southern Member of Parliament Robert Chin for lobbying for a beach development in the area.

“… He has put in a proposal to the Tourism Enhancement Fund to develop a proper beach right here in Alligator Pond. The proposal has been reviewed. Funding is being sourced and it will be done very shortly,” he told JLP supporters who crowded the square.

In 2021, following a town hall in Alligator Pond, the Jamaica Observer had reported that the scope of work for the beach development would include a designated parking area, pavement, shops, changing areas, a security booth, and a foot bridge and is expected to become an attraction for Jamaicans and tourists.

Holness explained that the local cuisine can attract huge economic benefits.

“We will be looking to develop attractions in and around this area. Now, one thing that we do well is food. Food in tourism is a big attraction. We don’t do enough of it and our fish and how we prepare it and all the other nice things that we do. We are going to develop that right here as an attraction, so when people come we have Little Ochie here as well. That will give you a new source of income for a lot of people and give employment in the area and start to regenerate and develop your local township,” he said.

Holness also promised to bring potable water to Alligator Pond and other parts of Manchester.

“Everywhere I go in the parish of Manchester people tell us, ‘We don’t have water’,” he said.

Manchester has struggled with water shortage for decades, and parish leaders have insisted over many years that the problem has hindered growth.

Many households in Manchester and the wider south-central Jamaica have had to rely on rainwater harvesting.

The long-standing issue of water supply has not only affected households, but commerce, with businesses suffering from the inconsistency in the supply of the precious commodity.

The Pepper well field, downslope at low altitude in St Elizabeth, is the main source of water for Mandeville, which is more than 2,000 feet above sea level, atop the Manchester Plateau.

Holness pointed to the Greater Mandeville Water Supply Improvement Project, which is expected to address the water crisis.

“We have put in a new pipeline. We have put in new pumps, but most of the water ends up in Mandeville in that urban space. The next phase of our investment for water in Manchester is to bring water to communities like Alligator Pond, like New Green, like Greenvale, like the other areas that I have toured where the water supply is not reliable,” he said.

The Greater Mandeville Water Supply Improvement Project includes the supply of well pumps and transmission pipeline replacements, supply and installation of a 200,000-imperial-gallon steel tank, construction of three new well sites, and installation of new transmission mains to replace aged infrastructure and seven new pumping units.