MONTEGO BAY, St James — Discussions are under way to add a police post to Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in this western city.

It will be located at the Old Hospital Park and is part of wider plans to transform the boulevard, formerly referred to as the Hip Strip, into a business improvement district (BID).

According to Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon, the St James Municipal Corporation will partner with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) to set up the police post using existing structures. The boulevard is popular with visitors who stay in its hotels, purchase gifts and craft items, enjoy the beach and entertainment activities.

Vernon’s announcement came Monday during a media briefing to highlight accomplishments of the local authority he leads and its plans for the next fiscal year. While he stressed that plans for the police post were still in the discussion phase, the mayor pointed to its significance.

“We will do so to enhance security within the space and to provide that component of support to the business improvement district so that the establishment of such districts can be sustainable from a safety standpoint,” he explained.

“In recent times we have seen videos, we in fact received a letter from one of the hotels pertaining to harassment, and this is something that we are very concerned about. Because apart from our sand, sea, sun and the number one thing why people say they come to Jamaica — the people — we have to ensure that when they visit, they feel safe, they feel comfortable, and most importantly, they have a superb experience,” Vernon added.

The mayor stressed the importance of the tourism sector, and the municipal corporation’s commitment to providing any support it needs to thrive.

“For what it’s worth, we have to ensure that we protect the tourism industry. Being 30 per cent of our GDP, it only makes sense that we protect it because it provides employment, it provides funding for so many of the things that we do,” Vernon declared.

“It is just a part of our major industries and therefore we have to ensure that, from a local standpoint, whatever is necessary for us to do to protect it, we activate the necessary mechanisms,” he said.

In providing an update on the BID, the mayor told journalists that steady progress is being made.

“We started the process. We are approximately 83 per cent complete where that is concerned and that is quite an achievement,” he said regarding development of the policy and framework.

“We started out starting to manoeuvre the legislation, to understand how exactly we can bring about this new development within the space and we expect to complete that project in the new fiscal year,” Vernon said.

The mayor expects that work on the police post will contribute significantly to the overall effort.

“We intend to ensure that it [the BID] is 100 per cent complete this year, but a part of that [which] will be our focus is the matter of security,” he said.