Plans for joint venture agreement to establish Morant Bay urban centre

Chairman of the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) Lyttleton Shirley says that Cabinet is to receive shortly a submission for the joint venture agreement to establish the Morant Bay Urban Centre in St Thomas.

He made the disclosure at a function held at the Morant Villas, in Morant Bay, St Thomas, last week.

Shirley said that the documents are now with the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation before being placed before the Cabinet.

"When that takes place, it will trigger all the things that will make this development break ground, and in the next two years, see the transformation of Morant Bay," he said.

The chairman noted that the urban centre would facilitate entities and amenities, providing improved delivery of key public and private sector services.

Over 365,000 square feet of space will be available for amusement, a university, skills training, banking, food services, business process outsourcing (BPO), and other businesses.

"We will be having at least four fast-food companies, and one prominent BPO operator wants up to 70,000 square feet of building (space). They envision that it will fit well into their development plan, for not only entry-level BPO services, but all the other services that the [industry] demands," he outlined.

The proposed $4 billion Morant Bay Urban Centre will be developed just outside of the existing town on the 25-acre property where the old Goodyear factory is located.