LUCEA, Hanover — Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo) Executive Director Wade Mars is calling on Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels to sign off on documents needed to pave the way for rehabilitation of Fort Charlotte, a move expected to enhance the tourism product in that town.

“There are some documents that are currently on the mayor’s desk that need to be signed in order for us to proceed. So if you can just nudge him for me, please, all right? Because no amount of misogynistic behaviour will prevent us from executing our mandate in terms of delivering the tourism product in Jamaica, Lucea, or wherever it is,” stated Mars.

He was addressing Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Lord’s Multi-purpose Court rehabilitation project in Malcolm Heights, Lucea.

The fort, which was built in the mid-18th century by the British for the defence of the North Westerly section of the island, is currently owned by the Hanover Municipal Corporation. It was built during the reign of King George III of England and was named after his wife, Charlotte.

Mars later told the Jamaica Observer that in the past, restoration work, including railings for the protection of visitors, was done on the sea cliff property that boasts cannons.

Now, TPDCo is looking forward to carrying out restoration work on the cannons under the guidance of Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT).

“There are some lovely cannons that date back centuries that are currently on the property that need to be restored properly for them to have more longevity,” explained Mars.

“In the end, what we want is a space where people can actually tour and have some amount of recreational facilities there as well. It’s part of a longer-term vision of how we’ll transform the old Fort Charlotte into a tourist attraction,” he added.

However, Mayor Samuels has brushed aside Mars’s claims as political.

“The letter came to the meeting. The superintendent [of the corporation’s Roads and Works Department] went and did some checks and came back to the meeting where it was decided that they are going to call in TPDCo to have discussions on the scope of work and everything,” he said.

“A date was set and they did not turn up and apologise that they could not make it. So the meeting asked for us to set a different date for us to have the discussions. So when he went and did those things, he was just playing raw, dirty politics,” stated the mayor, who also revealed that he was absent for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday because he had only received an invitation that morning.

During the event, Mars and Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett thanked Member of Parliament (MP) for Hanover Western Tamika Davis for selecting the Lords Multi-purpose Court project for work to be carried out under the Spruce Up Jamaica programme and for advocating fiercely for the community.

For her part, Davis, who was elected on a Jamaica Labour Party ticket, said Lord’s Multi-purpose Court is aligned with her vision to create safe spaces in Hanover Western where young people can go and create bonds.

The property houses a football field along with a netball/basketball court.

It is currently without sanitary facilities, but the pastor of Lucea New Testament Church of God, Bishop Robert Williams, has offered the use of those at the church. A grateful Mars has promised to see how best this can be reciprocated.

“We’re going to offer to have a little tour of the church and see how we can assist the church as well,” he said.

Davis assured that work is being done to install sanitary facilities and seating at the facility.

During the event, chairman of the Negril Area Destination Assurance Council Richard Wallace noted that the investment in Hanover was well deserved. He pointed out that the parish provides 16 per cent of Negril’s more than 12,000 workers, so there ought to be a vested interest in the well-being, comfort, and safety of workers from the parish.

“Projects like this, even though they are not directly in the tourist area, it is in the area where our employees live. And so that makes it pretty critical to the tourism project. When you have a healthy, happy community it transforms into a better workforce and a better country in general when people have facilities like this at their disposal,” stated Wallace.

Bartlett told the function that Hanover is important to the development of the tourism industry.

“I want you to know that this parish is fast becoming the most important tourism parish in the country. You are going to have, among other things, the first casino tourism facility in the country. [It] is going to be right here in Green Island [at Princess Hotels and Resorts]. In short order, you’re going to have 2,000 rooms in Green Island with just one hotel [Princess] and then we are going to build the Viva Wyndham Hotel with 1,000 rooms in Rhodes Hall, and then the [Grand] Palladium, just outside of Lucea, is now expanding with 998 more luxury rooms,” the minister stated.

“Hanover has also led the way because you have the first hotel with rooms for the workers of the tourism industry. Five hundred rooms are available in the Princess facility and 600 houses are going to be built by Palladium for the workers of the tourism industry. Hanover [is] always leading the way in all of this, and I am excited about future developments because everywhere I look around now, Hanover is featuring,” added Bartlett.