PM Satisfied with Progress on Mobay Convention Centre

Prime Minister, the Hon Bruce Golding, has expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction and the quality of work accomplished to date on the Montego Bay Convention Centre, Rose Hall, St. James.
The Prime Minister, accompanied by Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, and Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, toured the facility in Montego Bay Friday (July 30).

The Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding (right) speaking to the media as he and Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre) and Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang (left) tour the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St. James Friday (July 30) to get a first hand view of the progress of construction.

“I have ministerial responsibility for the (Urban Development Corporation) UDC, and this is a UDC project, and we want to be assured that we are on track to complete the convention centre and have it ready for business early in the new year because Minister Bartlett has already been marketing it abroad,” the Prime Minister said.
“We did face some structural challenges in the early stages of the project and, I am assured by the project manager that, we have been able to make up whatever grounds we lost and we are on target to complete,” he stated.
Mr. Golding said noted that the major structural part of the project was “pretty much completed “, adding that he was very pleased with what he had seen.
“I am very pleased and I am very encouraged that we will have this project completed towards the end of this year, and we will be ready to offer this new product and make this new attraction available, not just for Montego Bay but for tourism generally in Jamaica,” he said.

A section of the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St. James. Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding (Centre) accompanied by Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett and Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang toured the facility Friday (July 30) to get a first hand view of the progress of construction. It is scheduled to be completed by year-end.

The Prime Minister noted that there was a “considerable” amount of investment in the centre by the Government, facilitated by a loan from the Government of China.
“That’s a loan that has to be repaid, and it has to be repaid from the revenues the centre itself will generate and, therefore, it’s going to be important that it is kept as active and as utilised as possible,” he told JIS News.