GOJ factory projects lag fast-moving IT sector
Published:Sunday | February 27, 2011 | 12:00 AM
J$1b Naggo Head development awaits approval
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
The take-up of space designated for information-technology businesses is being hampered by the Government's inability to deliver facilities as fast as they are required by investors, according to the agency tasked with providing factory and office space.
Horace Sutherland, general manager of Factories Corporation of Jamaica, points to cumbersome procurement practices and a lack of design-ready space as turn-offs.
Sutherland said last Thursday that over time, the Government has lost "a number of opportunities from locally established operators because we did not have readily available space to offer them at the time it was needed".
Factories Corp has projects in the pipeline for St Catherine touted by Government for two years — 100,000 sq ft of new factory space at Naggo Head, and 200,000 square feet in an informatics park at Caymanas.
"We had hoped that the Naggo Head project would have been well advanced by this, but we have delayed somewhat due to a snag in the procurement procedures," Sutherland said.
To move the project along, he said: "We have advanced the process for the procurement of a contractor for that project using the design-build methodology."
With this new strategy, Factories Corp has recommended the acceptance of an offer for the development of the site for an amount that is just under J$1 billion, but this is yet to be approved.
"We await the outcome of the approval process either to proceed or to scale back to a smaller project," he said.
undeveloped space
Overall, Factories Corp has some 3.1 million square feet of space in Montego Bay and Naggo Head that remain undeveloped, says Sutherland, while businesses look elsewhere for operating space.
"It has been our experience that IT service providers cannot wait for us to design and construct a facility once they finalise an agreement with a client. Once they land that contract, they need the space to be in operation within not more than three months and often less," he said.
"As such, we have lost, over time, a number of opportunities from locally established operators because we did not have readily available space to offer them at the time it was needed."
Because of this peculiarity, he said, the Government has decided that there should be a "small inventory of available space in preferred locations to facilitate these 'snap demands' from operators as the need arise."
The Factories Corp head did not state the locations under consideration.
Despite the challenges, Sutherland said he remains confident of accelerated growth for the industry. JAMPRO studies have indicated that the need is there, he said.
"Jamaica's competitive advantage lies mainly in two areas which are our proximity to the North American mainland; and the fact that our mother tongue is the English language. It has been determined that we have a clearer pronunciation of the language than our competitors in India or others regionally."