Cabinet Approves Purchase of Properties in Port Antonio for Tourism Project

Cabinet has approved a request from the Port Authority of Jamaica to purchase three properties in Titchfield Hill, Port Antonio from the Commissioner of Lands at an estimated cost of $4 million.
Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman, who made the disclosure to journalists at yesterday’s (March 6) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, explained that the properties, located at 37 Fort George Street, 39 Fort George Street, and 13 King Street, would be included in a development programme to restore properties on the historic Titchfield Hill, and provide an opportunity to expose the country’s art, music and other cultural products.
The project will complement the marina, the cruise shipping and Navy Island developments in Portland. It is anticipated that a joint venture company would be put in place to manage the development, once it is completed.
The Authority, Senator Whiteman added, has obtained permission to make a private purchase of a fourth property to extend its tourism development plans.
In the meantime, he informed, “government agencies and the private sector partners will work together to develop Port Antonio beyond where it is today.”
The Information Minister said that before the properties were taken over, “some supplementary arrangements will have to be made to facilitate the accommodation of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica premises, which is in one of those properties.”