$83 Million Allocated To Furnish New Foreign Affairs Building

The Government has set aside a sum of $83.3 million to furnish the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade building, in downtown Kingston, in the new fiscal year.

This is outlined in the 2020/21 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

The project, which is slated to end in March 2021, is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and is being financed by the Jamaican and the Chinese Governments.

Customised office facilities for the Ministry, which adequately support its needs in terms of accommodation of staff, meetings and conference facilities and waiting areas for diplomats and other visitors will be provided under the project, which aims to contribute to the redevelopment of downtown Kingston by virtue of the relocation of the Ministry.

Construction work on the new building was completed last year and the building was formally handed over to the Government on October 16, 2019.

Built on 11,700 square metres by the Jiangsu Jiangdu Construction Group Co. Limited, of China, the 11-storey structure consists of a two-storey annex building, a generator room, boundary wall, and a parking area.

Up to December of last year, building finishes, external infrastructure, and landscaping were 100 per cent completed, while the communication infrastructure was almost completed.