FALMOUTH, Trelawny — General secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Dr Horace Chang says a promise to establish a town centre for Falmouth will be kept during the JLP’s third term in office.

The touted development was first mentioned by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in his 2018/19 Budget Debate presentation.

As Holness said then and repeated by Dr Chang when he addressed a JLP divisional conference at the Falmouth All-Age School on Sunday evening, the Port Authority of Jamaica will be integrally involved in the long-awaited project.

“We might do it as a joint venture, quite likely, inviting people to buy in. But the plan will be done by the Port Authority and then we execute it in a timely way. The land is opposite the new market. We have a 50-acre block of land just reclaimed, earmarked and ready. The plans are in place and we are going to move at it very quickly,” Dr Chang told reporters.

From the political platform, he provided an explanation of why the project has taken so long to get off the ground, while taking a swipe at the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

“The PNP announced the port in Falmouth but the Labour Party build the port; and there is more to be done. I know the people of Trelawny [are] not getting the full benefit of the port but we have the lands over there. Andrew Holness will build the new town centre for Falmouth on that land… in the third term [we] will build the town centre. We have the plan; [it] take a little while because you have to get the money right. And now we getting it right,” Dr Chang asserted.

Speaking with reporters later, on the periphery of the conference, he explained that a part of the Government’s policy “is to rejuvenate the town centres of a lot of old towns which are still dynamic economic centres but you find that the towns have become too crowded and small”.

It is an argument that was also made by the prime minister in his presentation six years ago.

“Many of them [towns] will have historical value but they need to move the commercial activity out of many of them,” said Dr Chang.

“If you go to Morant Bay you will see a brand-new structure out there which is particularly impressive — the courthouse, tax office and other activities to really regenerate — and we can now focus on the centre of Morant Bay as a historic centre. We have started Portland,” he added.

The JLP general secretary said there are plans to renovate Falmouth’s old Georgian-style buildings to pivot the location into a major resort town.

“Falmouth will become one of the premier destinations in the Caribbean for visitors from all over the world,” said Dr Chang.

“You have one of the best history for tourism; best history in the western hemisphere, maybe only Port Royal can come near to it,” he added.

Speaking during the same event, Member of Parliament for Trelawny Northern Tova Hamilton, who has successfully advocated for major infrastructure works in the constituency over the past four years, promised constituents that there are more major developments earmarked for the parish.