DEVELOPERS OF the new Emancipation Park under construction in New Kingston says the recreational facility will be "sufficiently completed" by July 31, to meet the Emancipation Day opening deadline a day later.
But work will continue on the project beyond that date.
The park is being developed on seven acres of land in the busy commercial/financial district to provide the capital with needed 'green' space, but the developers are also linking the facility to Jamaica's history.
The park will be 75 per cent grass and 25 per cent hard surface, that is concrete plus a jogging trail, says National Housing Trust chairman Kingsley Thomas. The facility will be fenced, but visible to passersby.
The project is being developed by the state-owned NHT, which acquired the land for the park from another state entity, the Financial Sector Adjust-ment Company for $1.
The development is costing about $65m, and some 10 contractors are carrying out the work, says Thomas. But the chairman was reticent about which firms have been awarded jobs on the project, and at what price, noting only that NHT was working closely with the National Contracts Commission on the matter.
Asked if his reluctance meant that this was 'work for the boys,' Thomas said emphatically that as many Jamaica Labour Party as People's National Party affiliated contractors were given jobs on the project. He said the discussions with NCC are centred on how the contract is packaged.
