Construction Of Micro Business Park In Morant Bay To Begin In April

Construction for a micro business park, to add to the Morant Bay Urban Centre, is expected to begin in April this year.

“The land is here, the drawings are being prepared [and] we are now going to be looking for financing,” said Chairman of the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), Lyttleton Shirley, in an interview with JIS News.

“Those lands were acquired by the FCJ strategically, because we wanted FCJ, as a government agency, to be more fluid and flexible in providing space as it relates to small businesses,” he added.

Mr. Shirley emphasised that the park is all for small businesses [and] the majority  of them will be coming from St Thomas.

“Most of them are asking for a small space – 500 to 1,000 square feet – and it is not practical for us to have provided that in the commercial building space, so the micro business park will be that facilitator for most of the small businesses which have not occupied space already,” the Chairman said.

Last November, Mr. Shirley indicated that Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, gave instruction for the FCJ to acquire the land to construct the micro business park, which is to be the first of its kind in Jamaica.

“It’s going to be something that you have never seen before. It’s going to have farmers’ market, farm supply and equipment store, sports bar and grill pavilion, 12 mini warehouses, and 30 micro business facilities to support small businesses, such as shoemakers, locksmiths and hairdressers,” the Chairman said.

“What we have been instructed by the Prime Minister is to help them in acquiring their equipment, roll it over into the rent over a longer period, so that small businesses can overcome that startup gap,” he added.

Contractors for the Morant Bay Urban Centre, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), will also be responsible for the micro business park.