MONTEGO BAY, St James — Montego Bay will get a facelift by January, Mayor Councillor Leroy Williams announced last Thursday at a press conference following the monthly sitting of St James Municipal Corporation.

“In collaboration with the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) we will be spending in excess of $40 million to repair sidewalks on St James Street,” he said.

Work will also be done on other sections of the city but St James Street will be the focus.

Sidewalks will be paved using multicoloured bricks, improvements will be done to the drains, and work will also be carried out on signage — all in an effort to make the city more visually appealing. It is expected to complement ongoing road repairs.

“The residents of Montego Bay would have noticed that we have been doing several infrastructural works in the various divisions. There are several areas that the municipal corporation has repaired the roads,” noted Williams. “I am sure that this will significantly add to the beautification of the space.”

The mayor also announced that the corporation will be doing work to beautify the entrance of Cornwall Regional Hospital, which has been undergoing a massive upgrade for years.

“We intend to build a bus shed, plant trees, and construct a beautifully designed sign that will say, ‘Welcome to Cornwall Regional Hospital’,” he said, adding that both projects will get going in the early part of the new year.

“We expect to start these projects in January, and I’m confident that these two projects will add to the development of the city of Montego Bay,” he said.