Port Antonio Reimagined: Charting a Coastal Renaissance

Imagine a Port Antonio that welcomes cruise-ship visitors with ease and charm, a Boston Bay that draws global food connoisseurs and empowers local entrepreneurs, and a Portland where community and adventure tourism thrive in harmony with farming and craft.

This is the vision being laid out by Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, who shared these remarks on June 26 as he broke ground for the US$81-million Port Antonio Bypass – an infrastructure project he described as a catalyst for unlocking Portland’s full economic potential.

Dr. Holness said the project should not be viewed at face value, as the Government is, in reality, “laying the foundation for something bigger than a Bypass”.

He announced that, through the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), the Government has engaged world-renowned Jamaican architect, Gordon Gill, to develop a transformative master plan for Port Antonio.

“The vision of Port Antonio is to create a high-value, low-density tourism destination that will preserve the unique history and character of Port Antonio as the birthplace of Caribbean tourism. Port Antonio will become the St. Bart’s of the Northern Caribbean,” the Prime Minister explained.

Key components of the master plan, he said, include a cruise-ship terminal along the eastern belt of the East Harbour, high-end hotels and villas on the Folly lands, and the transformation of the existing cricket field to create a multipurpose sports and entertainment theatre.

Dr. Holness also announced plans for a new pedestrian promenade along the shoreline connecting the East and West Harbours, the redevelopment of the Port Antonio Marina, and the creation of a public waterfront park inspired by Montego Bay’s Harmony Beach Park.

Additionally, he outlined plans to transform the Musgrave Market into the “crown jewel in the Port Antonio waterfront experience”.

“We’re going to change what you consider a market into what a real market should be – clean, spacious, orderly where everybody can come, shop, eat, dine [and] make it into an experience,” the Prime Minister said.

A key feature of the master plan is the Boundbrook Urban Centre, currently under development, which will offer 148,000 square feet of purpose-built commercial space, including a Government Centre and the Portland Municipal Corporation, and is expected to generate employment for more than 3,000 Jamaicans.

Dr. Holness also disclosed that Navy Island will be preserved as a nature and ecotourism reserve, as part of the ecological heritage of Portland and Jamaica.

The Prime Minister revealed that design work on the master plan is already under way.

These undertakings form part of the Government’s strategy to strengthen local economies and bring more industries within reach of Jamaicans.

“What we want to do is to create a local economy that employs you where you live, provides the services where you live, more of your taxes get spent because it’s generated there and you are vested in it,” Dr. Holness said.

This strategy is already being exemplified in St. Thomas, where the multibillion-dollar Morant Bay Urban Centre has established a vibrant commercial hub.

“St. Thomas will have literally its own economy,” the Prime Minister declared, pointing to the parish’s expanding mining industry, growing tourism sector, and strengthened agriculture and fisheries as key drivers of local transformation.

He noted that St. Mary is also on track to receive a similar slate of developments, with plans recently unveiled for the Boscobel Integrated Business Centre, adding that “every parish will have its local economy”.

The Port Antonio Bypass project, to be executed in two phases, will involve the construction of an 18-kilometre corridor designed to divert traffic from the congested coastal town centre, thereby reducing travel time and transportation costs.

Phase one will span from Norwich to Turtle Crawl Harbour, comprising a seven-kilometre stretch of four-lane roadway with safety-enhancing median barriers, newly constructed bridges, upgraded drainage infrastructure, and designated bus shelters.

Prime Minister Holness reaffirmed that the Bypass paves the way for a reimagined Port Antonio, stating that, “the urban renewal that will follow can finally reflect the charm, potential and historical richness of the Port Antonio that we all wish for”.