Amity Hall/Bridge Pen Agro-Park Set for Completion by June 2026
By: , December 10, 2025
Photo: Donald De La Haye
A young farmer adjusts a drip line ahead of planting scallion at the Parnassus Agro-Park in Clarendon, on Tuesday (December 9). The agro-park’s irrigation infrastructure sustained minimal damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Southern Plains Agricultural Development Project (SPADP) Manager, Wayne Williams, sits on the side of one of the National Irrigation Commission (NWC) unit chambers that provide water to farms at the Parnassus Agro-Park in Clarendon, on December 9. The agro-park’s irrigation infrastructure sustained minimal damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa.The Full Story
The Amity Hall/Bridge Pen Agro-Park in St. Catherine, a component of the Southern Plains Agricultural Development Project (SPADP), is scheduled for completion by June 2026.
Project Manager for SPADP, Wayne Williams, made the disclosure on December 9 during an interview with JIS News at the Parnassus Agro-Park in Clarendon.
The Parnassus Agro-Park is also a part of the project and was launched in April 2025.
Mr. Williams explained that the majority of the Amity Hall/Bridge Pen project is completed, with only the pumps left to be installed.
For the St. Catherine agro-park, water will be taken from Rio Cobre and run through canals to a 500-million-gallon reservoir, from which water will be pumped to irrigate farm lots.
“We actually have a contractor now on site who is installing pumps. We actually have the pump house completed already, the reservoir is completed, all the pipelines are completed, all the roads, all the drains are completed. All we need to do is to get the pumps into that pump house. Once that’s done, we can start supplying water to the park,” Mr. Williams outlined.
He noted that the contractor has set a timeline for May or June next year.
“We are hoping we can meet that timetable. He has not given us any reason to think that he can’t meet that timetable at this point. We are working with him to get that done,” Mr. Williams said.
Additionally, the Project Manager pointed out that the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has been contracted to install a small solar park next to the pumping station.
This, along with the JPS’s electrical grid will be used to power the agro-park’s infrastructure.
Mr. Williams noted that the recent Hurricane Melissa did not cause any critical damage to the park, except for fallen trees that will be cleared in collaboration with the Agro-Invest Corporation (AIC).
The major storm also damaged a small bridge that connects the operating section of the Amity Hall Agro-park, with the area planned to come on stream next year under the SPADP initiative.
The aim of SPADP is to provide access to irrigation water on fallow sugar lands to increase agricultural productivity for export.