Infrastructure development too long in coming for Portland growth
Published:Wednesday | December 2, 2015 | 12:00 AM
A 'new-look' Port Antonio has been so long in the making that some local businesses and other potential investors are growing tired of waiting for Government to deliver on its promise of the requisite infrastructure to facilitate the growth and expansion of the town.
Getting to the Portland capital is a tale of two drastically different journeys - depending on which end you choose to enter. Travelling from Annotto Bay, St Mary, makes for an enjoyable, scenic ride along the newest leg of the North Coast Highway, with quite a few well-paved corners to keep you awake, just before entering the town.
If you are travelling from the St Thomas end, it is not recommended at night because even at the best of times the road surface is, for the most part, deplorable.
But whatever your route to quiet, peaceful Port Antonio, your plans for an enjoyable, restful stay could be shattered by the congested roadways, garbage on the streets and the foul smell of sewage.
hampering marketing
These are among the main factors hampering efforts at marketing the major town in the parish which gave birth to Jamaican tourism. For Errol Hanna, managing director for PSC Developments, the lack of basic infrastructure and the problem of accessibility to Port Antonio present the greatest obstacle to its expansion.
"I am in the process of building a hotel. We've started it; we've done our Cliff Hanger Restaurant and Lounge for which we've had so many great reviews, but accessibility and the marketing of Port Antonio are needed.
"Government has a big role to play and we are glad for the third leg of the North Coast Highway which terminates right here at the outskirts of Port Antonio, but from here to the east is deplorable; St Thomas is deplorable. We hear about the East Coast Highway but we are yet to see anything substantial happening. These are challenges that Government needs to take on to make private enterprise do what they must do and then everything I think will come together," he argued during a recent Gleaner forum on jobs, growth and opportunity at the Errol Flynn Marina.
On the issue of the road going east (St Thomas), Port Antonio Mayor Wayne McKenzie used the opportunity to disclose that a mega improvement is in the works but could not commit to a timeline.
"I don't know if funding has been identified but we have seen the layout of the road - it will be a highway from Harbour View (St Andrew) to Port Antonio with connecting roads to the major towns along the length of that highway. That new road will not come along the normal alignment; it will come cross-country and I think start at Bull Bay where it comes across the hill and ends out at First and Last, with major connections and flyovers."
He also cited the construction and commissioning of a well-needed central sewerage system as a major component of the necessary investment to create the new-look Port Antonio.
With most of the older commercial buildings in the town using the soak-away sewage system, this is creating the risk of groundwater contamination as well as of the air quality.
"This is a major problem because if you check Harbour Street and certain sections of the town, especially at night, and understand the type of gas that is coming out, it and the grey water and everything will tie into the system and you'll remove the stench that persons are suffering from," McKenzie pointed out.
greater compliance necessary
However, Daneyann Thomas, president of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, wants the local authorities to do more house cleaning in terms of getting local businesses to comply with the law, on much simpler matters, which can lead to significant improvements in the quality of life for locals and visitors alike.
"My issue with the parish council and a few other agencies is that they are not enforcing, they are not doing their jobs, and so I have seen a lot of instance where the Ministry of Health should just shut some restaurants down," she charged.
"I've seen issues with garbage collection and some of these are responsibilities of the State, and so we are allowed to carry on this way because we are not being monitored by the agencies that are supposed to be doing it. I'm just saying I'd like to see a better commitment, because you can't chastise us on one hand, when you know that there are certain things that you could do to make it a little bit better."
However, for Edison Taylor, business relationship and sales manager at Jamaica National Building Society, civic pride should evoke the proper response in everyone - at the individual and corporate levels, even without the threat of sanctions.
"The mayor had a meeting recently as it relates to solid waste and the collection during peak hours in the town, and if we had the kind of civic pride in the town that we expect of a town, I am sure we would not have that kind of a challenge," the banker insisted.
Meanwhile, Larry Robertson, chairman of the resort board, said it has embarked on a beautification project in collaboration with the parish council and Tourism Enhancement Fund, as well as other State agencies to spruce up the town for locals and visitors.
"We have recently worked with the National Works Agency in terms of actually assigning people to actually walk and deal with the garbage situation. We have delivered drums to the NSWMA (National Solid Waste Management Authority) for them to deploy around the town. We have been working very closely with the police to see that we have a very safe and well-kept town."