OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has urged developers to partner with HEART/NSTA Trust to train and develop unskilled workers to be part of their workforce.

“When I speak with contractors and developers they are not so much complaining about financing. What they do complain about is the availability of skilled labour,” he said in his keynote address during last Friday’s official ground-breaking ceremony for BOOT Jamaica’s newest $1-billion development, named BOOT 2, in Drax Hall, St Ann.

“There is a real challenge so I suggest that when doing projects, developers get in touch with HEART Trust/NSTA and work with them to train some of the labour that will be taken on,” he urged.

Directing his comments to BOOT Jamaica Managing Director Wayne Boothe and CEO Alexcia Boothe, Holness said the company would benefit greatly from a partnership with HEART/NSTA Trust.

“Training doesn’t have to just be in skills but also in attitude, because that would be of supreme benefit to the society, generally, to have trained individuals. Investment made in the labour force is likely to yield great results,” said the prime minister.

The BOOT2 commercial complex will feature a Wendy’s franchise, supermarket, fine dining establishments, underground parking, a cinema and other businesses. It is the latest in a string of projects in the fast-growing Drax Hall area of St Ann. BOOT 2 will be connected to the existing BOOT development via an overhead bridge, enabling customers to move freely between the two.

Holness applauded BOOT Jamaica’s expansion and encouraged other local investors to be risk takers, emulating the Boothe family’s leap of faith and willingness to pour heavily into the country’s development.

“I want to commend Mr Boothe for being a part of this new vanguard of investors, exhibiting real confidence in the Jamaican economy by taking risk. Not just to create wealth for themselves but for all those who benefit from the service they provide,” said the prime minister.

“This is even one of the reasons why I accepted the invite to speak at this ground-breaking ceremony because this is a man of the soil making big investments,” Holness added.

During her address, the CEO explained what the project means for the Boothe family.

“Drax Hall has become exactly what my parents envisioned. The 68,000-square-foot, three-storey building takes the BOOT concept to new heights. BOOT 2 will be the first comprehensive service destination, families will handle their shopping here, young professionals will build careers here and entrepreneurs launch their ventures,” said Alexcia Boothe.

In addition to Drax Hall, BOOT Jamaica has locations in St Mary and Kingston and the CEO said there will be a fourth location in Ironshore, Montego Bay in the near future.

For his part, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda said he has been making preparations to meet the demands for water, given the rapidly emerging developments in the area.

“We have recently completed $200 million worth of pipe work,” said Samuda who is also Member of Parliament for St Ann North Eastern.

“We are actively doing work on Roaring River and White River treatment plant that will increase the need of approximately five million gallons of water along this corridor. So we are assuring investors that we are building the capacity that allows stakeholders to continue to invest so that prosperity is achieved in North East St Ann,” said Samuda.