Prime Minister Bruce Golding Tours St Mary …

Prime Minister Bruce Golding along with several Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, top government executives, mayors and community leaders , today toured St Mary making stops at the Boscobel Aerodrome, the North Coast Highway and a private medical facility at Pampano Bay. He also took the time out to visit Mount Industry, in St Catherine, for a brief presentation to students there.
The first stop was the Boscobel Aerodrome which is being upgraded to accommodate increased flights and to handle immigration and custom clearance. Mr. Golding said the aerodrome was being upgraded to facilitate small and private jets as part of the decision to increase tourism activity in the area. He said one of the major challenges was the extension of the runway to 5,500 ft which is required to facilitate private jets. He said a report would be presented soon to indicate how this extension would be implemented.
His next stop was to examine work being done on the North Coast Highway. The Prime Minister said he was not satisfied with the pace at which construction had been taking place and that he had held discussions with the Minister of Transport and Works, Mike Henry, to ensure that the deadline for the completion of the road construction is met. Mr. Golding said the project is being financed by grant money provided by the European Union. A request has been made for the extension of the grant to June of next year. But he said he has made it clear to the contractors that they must accelerate the pace at which the work is being done in order meet the deadline so that the funding would not be jeopardized.
The Prime Minister also toured a private, partially completed medical complex in Pampano Bay. The medical complex was being developed by a private investor who suffered serious illness just prior to completing the medical project. Mr. Golding said a number of options were being considered by a technical team from the Ministry of Health. Accompanying the Government party were Cuban officials whom Mr. Golding said would be assisting the Ministry of Health to determine the best use of the facility. In the meantime, the Ministry of Health will be putting together a proposal, details of which would be disclosed by the Minister of Health at a later date.
Mr. Golding’s final stop was Mount Industry in St Catherine, where he handed out 10- computers to the new Mount Industry Primary and All age School. Accompanying Mr Golding on that stop was MP for North East St Catherine, Gregory Mair.
On the St Mary tour with the Prime Minister were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Kenneth Baugh; Minister of Health and Environment , Rudyard Spencer; State Minister of Local Government and MP for Western ,St Mary, Robert Montague; Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister and MP for North East St Ann, Shahine Robinson; mayors, permanent secretaries, other top government and various community representatives.