Development Projects for St. Mary

Custos of St. Mary, Bobby Pottinger, has said that a number of development projects are being undertaken, which will enhance the experience of locals and visitors to the parish.
Among the projects, he cited, is the development of the Port Maria Civic Centre to set up an amphitheatre and facilities for parish council meetings. The project, which is expected to cost more than $100 million, is in association with the Venezuelan Government.
Mr. Pottinger spoke to JIS News after a recent tour of the parish by Their Excellencies the Governor-General, the Most Hon. Professor Sir Kenneth Hall, and the Most Hon. Lady Hall.
Among the areas visited by the touring party were the Civic Centre; Chris Blackwell’s Goldeneye Property in Oracabesa, which is being developed as a luxury resort community; and James Bond Beach.
“Chris Blackwell is doing a wonderful job,” Mr. Pottinger said. “He is integrating the community in his development and I thought it fit that His Excellency should come and see what he is doing.”
“He is building some luxury apartments at Goldeneye and attracting some of the most famous people in sports, music and other entertainers to be a part of St. Mary and we are very proud of what he is doing because he is using all the people in the community (on the project),” the Mayor noted.
Meanwhile, the music industry and hotel mogul told JIS News that work on the Golden Eye development project should begin in the next few months.
“We have been working on it for 15 years. The whole concept of it is to design it to attract people to want to come and live at Goldeneye in Jamaica and I believe very much in the kind of tourism that I call residential tourism,” Mr. Blackwell said.
The Goldeneye Property houses a number of villas and includes the James Bond Beach, which has become a venue for many concerts and stage shows.