JDF gets land for relocation

Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding has informed the House of Representatives that the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has been given the land in St. Catherine, for the construction of its new headquarters.
“We have already transferred to the JDF over 4,000 acres of land in Caymanas. That will become their new headquarters. They will have a major training facility there and a major operational base. It is something that will be done over time,” Mr. Golding told the House of Representatives, yesterday (November 23).
The Prime Minister was making his contribution to the debate on An Act to Amend the Urban Renewal (Tax Relief) Act, which seeks to enhance and encourage the redevelopment of downtown, Kingston.
Mr. Golding said the relocation of the JDF from its current site at Up Park Camp would “free up 270 acres of land sitting in the middle of the city that, in my view, is going to provide an opportunity for us to retrofit the city of Kingston, provide it with the lungs that it does not now have and create the kind of facilities that would completely rejuvenate the city of Kingston.”
“It requires very careful planning; it is going to have to be something that engages the entire community of the Corporate Area,” the Prime Minister said.
He pointed out that preliminary work on the design of the new JDF headquarters has already been done and the issue will be looked at more closely during a meeting with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) later this week.
In her remarks, Leader of the Opposition, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller expressed reservations about the impending relocation of the JDF to the Caymanas area.
“I am not saying we are opposing yet. I am saying I would love to have some further discussions on that. There are security concerns that just jump out at me immediately, and other concerns in terms of our history and the preservation of our heritage,” Mrs. Simpson Miller said.