MONTEGO BAY, St James — Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Jason Russell has urged residents to come out and celebrate with the city on New Year’s Eve in a demonstration of the city’s resilience.

Among the activities on offer, Russell highlighted a midnight fireworks display at Harmony Beach Park, being staged through a partnership involving his own enterprises and the Urban Development Corporation.

According to Russell, patrons will be able to enjoy a full day of activities as the city continues its recovery following the October 28 passage of Hurricane Melissa.

“They have a free event in the park — it’s free for everybody to come and watch the show. They have a lot of activities, and of course there is a lot of food and beverage offerings over there,” he explained.

Russell said New Year’s Eve events are particularly important this year, given the challenges the city has faced.

“We think it’s very important that we push through… people need to go out and enjoy themselves,” he insisted.

He also expressed appreciation to the Government for supporting the staging of events to close out this year and usher in the new one.

“It shows that the Government is not just about solving crime and fixing roads but that they are actually putting a softer side on,” he said. “Socialisation must take place. People need to get together, people need to have fun — and they are taking that seriously, so it’s a good look.”

Speaking in his capacity as proprietor of Pier One Restaurant and Bar, Russell said the establishment would again host its annual New Year’s Eve event, Twist.

“It’s two parties in one — we have a regular outside [version] for people who can’t afford the VIP, and you have the VIP inside that is fully all-inclusive food and liquor,” he said.

While encouraging people to attend the festivities, Russell stressed that the events are also a statement about the city’s resilience.

“It’s called continuity, it’s called resilience, and we’re not only resilient with supermarkets and banks and so forth, we’re resilient with entertainment. Montego Bay is a hospitality town, MoBay is [all about] come out and have fun and live life,” he declared.

Montego Bay, often described as Jamaica’s entertainment and tourism hot spot, suffered extensive damage during the hurricane and is now in a phase of major rebuilding.

Russell said the impact of Hurricane Melissa has been seen worldwide and it is important to signal that the city is rebounding.

“People from the outside looking in, seeing events of this magnitude taking place, will know that MoBay is open — and the quicker we can get this message out to the world is the quicker we can fully recover from Melissa,” he reasoned.

“We can’t hide away from it; we don’t have that option. We don’t have that option to shut down and don’t have entertainment. We owe it our guests; we owe it to the nation at large to push through and make sure these things are happening,” he added.