Montego Bay and Sitia to Become Sister Cities

The relationship between the cities of Montego Bay in St. James and Sitia, Crete in Greece will be strengthened, when they formally become sister cities on Thursday (February 16).

A formal twinning ceremony will be held at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay St. James.

The announcement was made by Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Leeroy Williams on February 9, at the monthly meeting of the St. James Municipal Corporation.

The delegation from Sitia led by Mayor Georgios Zervakis, arrived in the island on Friday (February 10) to formalise the agreement.

“On September 19, 2022, the city of Montego Bay and the Municipality of Sitia commenced negotiations to establish a sister city [relationship],” Mayor Williams said.

He noted that the relationship will be mutually beneficial to both cities in the areas of education, agricultural technology, and tourism.

“Benefits to be had as a result of the twinning of both cities are student exchange programmes between the Hellenic University in Sitia and the universities in Montego Bay,” Mr. Williams informed.

“Crete is the base for many shipping companies, with Greece having the largest shipping fleet in the world. So, in conjunction with the Caribbean Maritime University, under the direction of Admiral Peter Brady, there will be opportunities to promote Jamaican seafarers who desire employment on Greek vessels,” he added.

According to Mayor Williams, both countries share tourism and agriculture as their main source of economic earnings.

He stated that with Jamaica’s desire “to attract more tourist from southern and eastern Europe, the twinning will be beneficial because this part of Europe has had minimal exposure to tourism in Jamaica”.