FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Prime Minister Andrew Holness has expressed disappointment over the length of time the first artisan village in Falmouth, Trelawny, has taken to be completed — after it was first conceptualised in 2010 by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

“A project like this should not take as long as it has taken us — that is the reality. The new challenge for the Government, the new challenge for us as Jamaicans [is that] we have to do things much more quickly than we are doing them now,” Holness declared.

Speaking at the official opening of the facility on Friday, Holness insisted that it should at least have been ready for operation four years ago.

“The question is how fast can we convert the capital allocation in the budget into the things that really matter. I give you an example, and we are here celebrating the example. This project was conceived by Minister Bartlett in 2010 — no doubt he was the father — but it didn’t become an embryo, it didn’t take form until 2016. And when it took form in 2016 it had to go through all kinds of processes.

And now in 2024, eight years later, we are here opening this wonderful artisan village which is going to become a home to artisans; it is going to spark new energy in the creative industries, in arts and crafts; create new employment, generate new income. But, in all honesty, it should have happened four years ago, at most,” the prime minister stressed.

He cited productivity as a great concern in the country, and charged millenials that they must now “be the most efficient and productive Jamaicans”.

“Productivity is an issue, and I am happy to see the wonderfully attired students from Westwood and so I speak to you, directly that your generation. They say that you are the millenials, that you see the world differently, you want things to be customised, you want things to be open and transparent, and you want the things you want now.

“But you have to also be the most efficient and productive Jamaicans. My great worry for us is that we are going to reach a level of economic performance within the current threshold of our productivity bar and then we are going to struggle to convert that productivity into economic and social benefits. Because culturally, institutionally, there is almost a block psychologically to embrace the challenge of productivity,” he added.

For his part, Bartlett told the Jamaica Observer that the artisan village will revive a concept that existed years ago when travellers taking the public train, or the Governor’s Coach tour from Montego Bay, would stop at Catadupa in St James and get themselves measured for an island shirt or dress that would be ready for them to collect on their way back.

“However the artisan village takes the concept a step further. Vistors will have the pleasure of watching the skilled craftsmen at work as they create that piece of Jamaican art that they will take back home to remind them of a great vacation,” Bartlett said.

“Concurrent with the construction of the artisan village, the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) saw the need for a Craft Development Institute offering training and certification,” he added.

The artisan village is themed to tell the story of Falmouth and offer Jamaicans and visitors an opportunity to share local food, drink, art, craft, and culture. Falmouth Artisan Village is the first of its kind in Jamaica and forms part of the US$5.7-million Hampden Wharf Development Project, funded by TEF.

President of Port Authority of Jamaica Professor Gordon Shirley, who noted that the journey to accomplish the outcome was not an easy one, described the process and thanked Carol Rose Brown, director of Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation, for delivering something that is special.

“The goal was to transform this into something special,” Shirley remarked.

Member of Parliament for Trelawny Northern Tova Hamilton said the project will not only serve to provide jobs, “but is a cultural landmark”.