After six years of construction the Morant Bay Urban Centre was officially opened on Thursday by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness who told excited residents that there is a lot more development in store for St Thomas that, for years, was stigmatised as the forgotten parish.

Among the projects is a multi-purpose entertainment and sports facility in proximity to the urban centre, Holness revealed at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“We have 13 1/2 acres of land in proximity to this development and I want you to look out for it, because I intend to come to the first festival or stage show that is kept there when ‘Gramps’ and the Morgan family is performing [and] I intend to be there to hear Toni-Ann Singh,” he said.

His references were to the popular reggae group Morgan Heritage and Miss World 2019, who is now engaged in a music career.

Holness also announced that there are plans in place to develop new medical facilities at the urban centre.

“This will host 25 specialised units, ranging from general practitioners, paediatricians, neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons, you name it, and we will also have a facility for accident and emergency and urgent care. This will significantly improve access to health care in St Thomas,” he said.

As part of his vision to continue transforming the parish, Holness also noted that there will be an increase in housing developments that will encourage more people to live and invest there.

“St Thomas is going to see an explosion in housing developments. We have about two or three housing developments happening along the road corridor, but I am here to tell you that I am in sight of at least three other major developments to come on more than 3,000 acres of land which will give both accessible, affordable, and low-income housing and middle- and upper-income housing,” he said.

“So the entire parish is going to be a place where people are going to come and move in to live, so you who have been here suffering for a long time, you are also going to benefit because they will have to come to your market, they have to hire you, they have to come and use your service so your parish is going to grow and your income is going to grow,” he added.

Holness added that the urban centre, which cost approximately $6 billion to construct, will help with the Government’s vision to put the parish at the front of new developments in Jamaica.

“Today we definitively close the chapter of decades of underdevelopment. Infrastructural neglect that has long defined a narrative of St Thomas being the forgotten parish… this lovely facility, this very convenient facility here, well-designed and well-laid out, is going to create the new economy that will generate the new wealth for the parish, not just for people who are already rich but for every single person in St Thomas. This will be generating the prosperity you have always wished for,” Holness said.

However, he acknowledged that there is more work to be done on the urban centre.

“This project is not yet finished because we are going to do another extension of 10 acres of new building for micro and small businesses in St Thomas… we are not just thinking for five years, we are thinking for the next 50 years. This urban centre is going to grow, and so we are taking the steps necessary to ensure that we have access to lands around the centre to secure its future expansion,” he said.

Reggae artiste Gramps Morgan, who hails from the parish, expressed his appreciation for the development.

“It has been long time that this parish has been suffering… I remember when it took me three hours to leave from the airport and come to St Thomas; it took me about 40 minutes to reach here [today] at what was once Goodyear Oval,” he said.

He used the opportunity to urge St Thomas residents to play their part in maintaining the urban centre.

“This place is built, but we have to train ourselves so that we can take care of it. I don’t want to see the paint running down because I will buy paint myself and come paint it. We don’t want to see in 10 years that we forgot about it, so let’s not forget that they said we were the forgotten parish,” he told guests.

Factories Corporation of Jamaica Chairman Lyttleton Shirley, in his address, said that the urban centre will not only be a “one-stop shop” for St Thomas residents but will also serve as a blueprint for the development of future urban centres in the country.

“Today we are not merely cutting a ribbon, we are carving a path in the future for the people of St Thomas, for the nation of Jamaica, and for generations to come,” he said.

He noted that over the next three months clients will be working to complete the setting up for their respective space to ensure the centre is ready to provide services to residents as quickly as possible.

“What you are seeing now is a project that is complete and ready for occupancy of our clients who have been given a three-month buildout period. During this rent-free period, the clients will be designing the units to their specifications and the contractor will concurrently use this period to complete landscaping, roadworks, and any incomplete works while fixing any defects identified,” he said.

The Morant Bay Urban Centre sits on approximately 436,000 square feet of land where the Goodyear factory once stood. It marks the first Government-led initiative to create a fully integrated, one-stop commercial hub that will blend public and private sector services.

The centre has more than 40 private and government clients already confirmed to offer services in the centre, including a new tax office, Devon House ice cream, a new parish court building, fast-food giant KFC, and an office for the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, to name a few.