MEGAMART CEO Gassan Azan yesterday revealed a downtown Kingston revitalisation plan that involves amongst other things replacing the General Penitentiary prison with a university in order to foster wider economic growth.

Azan did “not claim originality for these ideas” but wanted to add support in order to nudge Government into action.

“I cannot think of a better location than where the General Penitentiary (Tower Street Adult Correctional Facility) is now located,” he said in his address to the Rotary Club of Kingston at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. “By removing the prison we would eliminate a good part of the criminal-related traffic and with the establishment of a university campus thousands of workers and students who live downtown or in the dormitory communities of Portmore could access tertiary education much easier.”

He added that the evening traffic that would result would help to keep businesses open and start bringing life to the capital city after six in the evening: “For a city to keep going you need night activity”.

Other ideas included setting-up businesses along a “clean and maintain[ed]” Kingston Harbour and fast-tracking the movement of government offices downtown to vacant government-owned buildings.

“We are confident that downtown Kingston can be restored to the status and prosperity it previously enjoyed; for the future of Jamaica is inextricably linked with the renewal of tis capital city,” he said.

Experts say that the infrastructure of downtown however, better facilitates development due to its grid network of streets when compared with the windy narrow streets in New Kingston. However downtown is generally dilapidated due to crime fears.

Currently a number of law firms, manufacturers and government offices are located downtown whilst the headquarters for banks and telecommunication firms are generally located uptown in New Kingston.

Azan recently invested $45 million in Sweet Tings a new bakery in downtown Kingston that employs 30 persons. The menu at the 2700 square-foot bakery boasts over 60 items, including a variety of breads, cookies, muffins and cakes. Azan was nominated in 2000 for the Jamaica Observer Business Leader Award.

“Fortunately other members of the private sector have kept faith with downtown. Some of us still maintain our corporate headquarters there and the recent announcement by Digicel indicates that more will come,”.

Telecoms firm Digicel, recently announced that it will be moving its corporate headquarters to the district in 2012. The firm earlier this month broke ground on the 210,000 square-foot property on the Kingston waterfront, which will house a 11-storey, 155,000 square-foot office tower; a 7,000 square-foot food court; and a 11,000 square-foot two-storey ancillary building over a basement car park.

Azan also said in his address that the country’s major challenge was its “incapacity” to provide jobs for the 50,000 Jamaicans who come on the labour market every year; within the context of the economy growing less than one per cent over the last 30 years.