St. Thomas Custos Wants Residents ‘Ready and Prepared’ For Morant Bay Urban Centre
By: , February 1, 2025
Photo: Raymond Simpson
British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Her Excellency Judith Slater (third right), and Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) Chairman, Lyttleton Shirley (centre), tour the Morant Bay Urban Centre in St. Thomas on Thursday (January 30). Also part of the touring party are (from left) FCJ Managing Director, Donald Farquharson; Mayor of Morant Bay, Councillor Louis Chin; Custos Rotulorum for St. Thomas, Hon. Marcia Bennett; Member of Parliament for St. Thomas Western, James Robertson, and Deputy British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Jonathan Cook.The Full Story
With the Morant Bay Urban Centre’s construction now in the final stages, Custos Rotulorum for St. Thomas, Hon. Marcia Bennett, is encouraging residents to prepare themselves for the opportunities that will result from the development.
Mrs. Bennett, who participated in a tour of the facility on Thursday (January 30), told JIS News that, “my only concern now is that I hope our people are ready and prepared for this next step, because it is all for them”.
“So, our young people must ensure that… they are ready to take up this next step to empower themselves and to ensure that they are not left behind and [that] it’s persons from outside who will benefit from this,” she added.
Mrs. Bennett lauded the development as “quite significant” for the people of St. Thomas, pointing out that jobs as well as training and educational opportunities are expected to abound.
“This sort of development is the first of its kind. I would not say that St. Thomas was left behind, [but] it is now time for St Thomas to have such a development. It augurs well for education, manufacturing and export and also commercial businesses,” the Custos said.
Among the entities whose buildings will line the Urban Centre’s landscape are the HEART/NSTA Trust, University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), a business process outsourcing (BPO) facility, and a government services building, which will bring together several State agencies in one space.
The project will also feature a main commercial building with almost 70 clients offering a wide range of services such as fast food, fine dining, shops and a gym as well as eight warehouses for distribution and manufacturing.
“We also have in this development, one of the largest courthouses in Jamaica, if not the Caribbean; and for all of that, we are extremely grateful,” Mrs. Bennett said.
She is also optimistic that the $6-billion project will reshape the narrative of St. Thomas being ‘forgotten’.