Transport and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill (left), talks with Patrick Hylton (centre), managing director of FINSAC, and Mr. Noel Hylton, president and chief executive officer of the Port Authority of Jamaica. - Rudolph BrownTHE NAVY Island property in Port Antonio, Portland, has been sold to the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) for US$2.75 million. The deal, which was signed yesterday, ends years of back and forth wranglings which saw the property, once owned by Hollywood legend Errol Flynn, exchanging hands on several occasions.
Only recently, the property was reportedly sold to an American interest. It however went back on the auction block soon after as the interested party and FINSAC failed to arrive at a deal. FINSAC acquired the property seven years ago. It was previously under the control of Blaise Trust and Merchant Bank.
The PAJ, which signed the deal yesterday, revealed a number of plans it has earmarked for Navy Island, noting that in 18 months, it should build a five-star hotel and villas on the property.
As expected, the sale of Navy Island to the PAJ is already generating interest in Port Antonio, a town whose tourism industry has been struggling for quite a while. Bent Kristensen, consultant at General Business Services Limited in Port Antonio, expressed the mood of the town. "We are indeed pleased to know that finally after all these many years of just lying there as a sleeping beauty, that it has finally found its role in the development for the prosperity for the people in Port Antonio and in Portland," said Mr. Kristensen, who is also a second vice-president of Portland's Chamber of Commerce.
He called the change of ownership of Navy Island a significant step in the "overall industrialisation, modernisation and the returning of Portland to mainstream development in Jamaica and the Caribbean".
"Navy Island has always been very dear to the hearts of all Portlanders and all Jamaicans," Mr. Kristensen said. "It has been lying in the harbour just expressing its beauty to all of us, but now it has to play a role in the economic development of the people in Portland."
Hailing the PAJ's latest venture, president and chief executive officer Noel Hylton, told The Gleaner his organisation has big plans for developing Navy Island. "We have in mind to put a five-star hotel over there, but to blend in with the island, it will not be a high-rise building," he said. "We have some expensive villas, lots of swimming pools, hot tubs, jacuzzis. It's an area for laziness and relaxation."
Having acquired the green lush piece of real estate, Mr. Hylton added that the PAJ will soon discuss with its consultants and marketing team the best strategy in developing Navy Island.
"We feel that (discussions) would probably take six months to a year, and hope within another year we'll start (building)," he said.
Patrick Hylton, managing director of FINSAC, told the gathering in Portland yesterday that the sale of Navy Island was a milestone following the various abortive attempts since 1993.
"For me, this is another special occasion. It marks another milestone in the process of divestment of our assets, something for which we've been mandated, and something which we've always maintained is critical to our integrity as an institution," he said.
He said he was confident that the PAJ will put the island to good use.
"When I look at plans that the Port Authority has for Portland in general and for Navy Island specifically, I'm particularly heartened as I see this as a win-win for all of us for FINSAC, for the Port Authority, for the people of Port Antonio and for the people of Jamaica," Mr. Hylton said.
Navy Island was first called Lynch's Island, named after the British Governor Lynch. It bore that name until 1728 when the British Navy took over the island, renaming it Navy Island.
Later in the 1940s, the island was owned by renown American move actor Errol Flynn, and for a time was a playground for the rich and famous.
