More Houses for Tourism Workers
By: , January 5, 2024
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (centre), and Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (second right), broke ground for the Rhyne Park Estate housing development in St. James in 2019, providing 754 housing solutions for low and middle-income workers, including persons employed to the attractions and accommodations sector. Others (from left) are General Manager, Henan Fifth Construction Group, Baoguo Chen; then Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr.; and Chairman of the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), Norman Brown.The Full Story
The Government will this year launch a national policy to build homes for tourism workers, in partnership with hotels.
This was stated by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, in his 2024 New Year’s message.
Mr. Holness informed that the Ministry of Tourism has already entered into partnerships with the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), National Housing Trust (NHT) and private housing developers for units in Rhyne Park Estate and Grange Pen, St. James, to be reserved for tourism workers.
“We also welcome the pledge by four major international hotel investor groups, including RCD Hotels, Bahia Principe and Princess Resorts, which combined, have committed to constructing over 2,000 residential units for industry employees,” he said.
Prime Minister Holness argued that as the tourism industry expands “we must ensure that the people get more of the benefits and take a longer and more sustainable view of the tourism product. We will not only build hotels but we will build the community around them”.
He pointed out that tourism has always been a major employer of labour, but noted that while hotel rooms have been built, there has been no planned housing and accommodations for the workers in the industry.
“We are now seeing the limiting impact of unplanned developments on the tourism product,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minster said that tourism has been a star performer in 2023 and will continue to have a catalytic impact in transforming the social and economic lives of the Jamaican people.
He said the interconnectedness of tourism with other sectors has great potential for the economy, noting that, already, transactions through the Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX) platform have generated over $1 billion in sales by small farmers to local hotels and restaurants.
ALEX is a collaborative initiative between the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) that brings hoteliers into direct contact with local farmers.
“I have tasked the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce to increase structured linkages with a view to doubling the locally sourced content in the tourism industry,” Mr. Holness said.