KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says the Government will be advancing the development of the so-called Government Campus at National Heroes Circle as a national priority.

“The vision brings together Jamaica’s Houses of Parliament, key ministries and agencies into a single, purpose-built campus.

“In the post-Melissa context, the Government Campus is more than a statement of national pride. It is a strategic investment in the continuity of government,” Holness said Thursday during his contribution to the Budget Debate.

He said the campus will also serve as the catalyst for the broader regeneration of downtown Kingston that has been anticipated for decades — anchoring new mixed-use development, commercial activity and residential investment in the surrounding communities. It will also serve to restore the National Heroes Circle area “to its rightful place as the civic and symbolic heart of the capital”, said Holness.

In making the case to fast-track the development, the prime minister said, “When a major disaster strikes, the ability of the state to function — to coordinate, to communicate, to make decisions, to serve the people — depends on having facilities that can withstand the impact and continue operating in its aftermath. Hurricane Melissa exposed the vulnerability of the Government itself.”

The prime minister pointed out that Jamaica currently houses its ministries, departments and agencies in a patchwork of aging, scattered buildings — many of them structurally inadequate, poorly connected to each other and wholly unprepared for the demands that a major disaster places on government operations.

As it relates to the current Parliament building at Duke Street in downtown Kingston, where parliamentarians operate in cramped quarters, Holness stated that it could not be argued that “it has served us well” while indicating that it was just time to move on.

— Lynford Simpson