ST JAMES, Jamaica — Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has hailed the US$700 million investment in the 1,200-room Moon Palace by Mexican company investors, describing it as the direct result of government policy and not mere chance.

He was speaking during Monday afternoon’s groundbreaking ceremony for the mega hotel development in Success, St James.

“It didn’t happen by chance. It is because of deliberate, instrumental policy and government action that ensure that this is the outcome that we seek,” Holness said.

“Government is absolutely important in the development of any country. Government can be good for the development of the country and government can be bad in the development of a country. It is up to the people to ensure that they choose good government,” he added.

The hotel is to be constructed on 68 acres of land divested by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), which falls under the prime  minister’s portfolio.

In 2017 the Government gave a directive to the UDC that it must divest 20 per cent  of its assets. There are some persons who will be saying, “why are we forcing the UDC to give up some of its land?” But how is growth going to happen if the assets that could generate growth are locked into an entity that itself may not have the resources, the know how, technical expertise, the connections to develop the asset?” he questioned.

The prime minister explained that offering land for competitive private sector development reflects the government’s partnership for prosperity policy, which ensures national as well as private benefits.

He argued that such agreements include requirements that generate wider economic gains, such as mandating housing for workers in new hotel projects—a shift he described as fundamental to the development of local tourism.

—Horace Hines