No one should be surprised at the strong dose of scepticism regarding plans by Urban Development Corporation (UDC) for a 25-kilometre linear park stretching from downtown Kingston to historic Port Royal, which was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1692.

We are told that the project, Kingston Harbour Walk, is expected to be a “world-class, green, and sustainable public space supported by a multiplicity of experiences to connect Jamaicans with Kingston’s coastline”.

Design work is slated to begin in 2025 with the actual development taking place over three segments.

Stung by numerous unrealised promises down the years, some who were responding to our reporter’s questions poured cold water on the latest announced plans.

That a parliamentary election is constitutionally due by September next year helps to fuel the cynical view that this is just another empty promise meant to attract voters.

Hence the comment that, “We know how governments operate, especially prior to an election year, you know that people are always trying to up the ante when it comes to that season…”

Another person argued that “the amount a time I see people come measure up this place [sections of Kingston waterfront], only God can tell mi seh it [improvement projects] a go do…”

And yet, while there is much to be done to uplift the socio-economic conditions of the people who actually live there, it would be unfair to suggest that there has been no improvement in the physical look of Kingston’s waterfront since mass migration of businesses and well-off Jamaicans generations ago.

Restoration efforts — albeit way too slow — started as far back as the 1960s. In more recent years the relocation to the waterfront of a few major corporate head offices, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, has helped.

The opening of a major hotel, the 168-room, 12-storey ROK Hotel Kingston, originally built and opened in the 1970s as Oceana Hotel gives cause for hope.

We take heart from efforts to clean up the Kingston Harbour — fouled by industrial waste, garbage, and effluent run-off dating back centuries.

We recall the popular cross-harbour swim which was eventually banned by the authorities in the 1980s, because of poor water quality.

Surely, healthy water quality in Kingston Harbour, whenever that’s achieved, would allow an economic boost for downtown Kingston through water sports and recreational/commercial fishing.

Other projects, such as uplifting wall murals and beautification of downtown communities, give us more reason for optimism.

A long-standing challenge for downtown Kingston communities is crime and the perception thereof.

Police statistics showing criminal activity trending down can help. That trend has to continue if there is to be sustainable economic investment in those communities.

As we keep saying, beyond police enforcement must be the mobilisation of people at community level so they are better able to embrace law and order.

Related to that must be a conscious effort to ensure that the people who live in the waterfront communities aren’t just existing hand to mouth, but can lift their heads high, lead productive lives, and have real hope for themselves and their children.

Not just for those in the capital city’s waterfront communities but for all Jamaicans that last is perhaps the biggest challenge of all.