HE might be sitting on the Opposition benches in Parliament, but that is not stopping Dr Fenton Ferguson from giving his full support to the Government in its plan to convert the old Goodyear factory to an ultra-modern urban centre.

Addressing the ground breaking for the planned Morant Bay Urban Centre on Wednesday, Ferguson, the Member of Parliament for St Thomas Eastern, said it represented an historic moment for the parish.

“Prime minister, a 365,000 square feet one-stop centre for St Thomas must be big. This project is too big to fail,” declared Ferguson as he applauded the Factories Corporation of Jamaica for its role in moving the centre to the ground-breaking stage.

“We will do what we have to do to ensure that (for) the implementation, prime minister, I will be around,” said the man dubbed the “Six-Star General”, in a clear hint that he will be going after a seventh consecutive general election victory on a People’s National Party ticket, whenever the next election is called.

According to Ferguson, the urban centre is the biggest thing that has happened to St Thomas in terms of size, cost and potential.

He argued that the Morant Bay Urban Centre, the planned Southern Coast Highway and the parish development plan for tourism all indicate that exciting times are coming for St Thomas.

“We are prepared for this development and it must be supported in a bipartisan way to ensure its success. Today is a great day and I look forward with great anticipation for the role that we as members of parliament will play as we go along the corridor,” added Ferguson, who had earlier hailed the Member of Parliament for St Thomas Western, the Jamaica Labour Party’s James Robertson, as his colleague and personal friend.

“We in St Thomas, in spite of the challenges we have, believe that this is a good day … and I look forward, supporting this project 100 per cent,” said Ferguson.

The urban centre is being built on the grounds of the former Goodyear tyre factory, which was shuttered in 1997. It is being implemented by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica with construction to be done by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) at a cost of approximately US$50 million.

More than 3,000 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase with a provision that CHEC cannot employ fewer than 80 per cent Jamaicans on the construction site.