By Robert Stephens, Contributor
A busy street in the heart of downtown Kingston's commercial district. - File
DEVELOPING the Historic Triangle of Kingston, Port Royal and Spanish Town with community-based culture, heritage, nature and eco-tourism must be one of the key foundations on which we build our country to ensure sustainable growth and development.
Jamaica and Jamaicans all over the world are very often described as hard working, vibrant, exciting, athletic, animated, expressive, rhythmical, musical, creative and artistic.
On the other side of the coin some of us are described as unruly, violent, quick tempered and prone to get involved in crime, drugs and "anti-social behaviour".
When we think of the two sides of the coin we can recognise that there is truth in both descriptions, however, we must analyse the situation to enhance the positives and reduce the negatives.
Looking at the Kingston, Port Royal and Spanish Town areas, most Jamaicans focus on the negatives and identify the inner city areas as poverty stricken, crime riddled and a haven for drugs, guns and violence.
Considering the other side of the coin, the Historic Triangle of Kingston, Port Royal and Spanish Town is the repository of our most exciting history, heritage, culture, people and natural attractions but we fail to develop, encourage and enhance these positive attributes.
The fact is that our development strategies over the past several decades have focused on suppressing our natural attributes, while stressing the development of factory type industries which require a level of discipline and behavior which is often totally contrary to the nature of the people we are trying to provide opportunities for.
The question is what can we do to correct this situation and begin to enhance the standard of living for residents in our Historic Triangle.
My answer is we must focus on community-based culture, heritage, nature and eco tourism to provide the way forward to ensure sustainable development for the Historic Triangle of Kingston, Port Royal and Spanish Town.
The Historic Triangle, with Kingston as the core, is already recognised as the Cultural Heritage Capital of Jamaica; however, we now need to move towards greater community involvement and sustainable development of more of the attractions for their entertainment and shopping potential to establish it as the Cultural Heritage Tourism Heartbeat of the Caribbean.
The Historic Triangle, with Port Royal as a Cruise Ship Port of Call, can access any attraction within two hours by road, or air. With this perspective, cruise tourism visitors to Port Royal or Kingston could access attractions anywhere in Jamaica by helicopter or fixed wing aircraft from the Norman Manley Airport.
Currently there are several basic ingredients upon which The Historic Triangle as a cultural heritage hub can be built. These include:
The Historic Town of Port Royal including Fort Charles, Giddy House and the Victoria & Albert Battery, The Guard House, The Royal Naval Hospital Building, The Old Gaol, St. Peters Church, The Naval Dockyards, The Admiralty Houses, The Royal Naval Cemetery and Fort Rocky; Spanish Town including the Historic Square with the Rodney Memorial, Kings House, The House of Assembly and The Court House, as well as, the Cathedral Church of St. James, the Iron Bridge and several other historic houses and buildings, and the Serenity Wildlife Resort just beyond Spanish Town; Kingston with: The National Gallery; The Institute of Jamaica; The Bank of Jamaica Coin Museum; The African Jamaican Museum at Mico College; Numerous historical Churches and other buildings; Devon House and the complex of shops and restaurants; Hope Zoo and Botanical Gardens; Cinchona, Castleton and Bath Botanical Gardens; The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, Strawberry Hill, Creighton Great House, Newcastle, Holywell Recreational Area, Gap Caf and several other attractions; Rockfort Mineral Bath, Milk River Bath and Bath in St. Thomas as major attractions/mineral baths; Horse Racing at Caymanas Park; Caymanas & Constant Spring Golf Clubs; Bob Marley Museum; Theaters such as Ward Theater, The Little Theater and The Barn Theatre; Several art galleries of Kingston; Several Night Clubs and Entertainment venues; Several Restaurants serving a wide variety of local and international cuisine. The restoration of Port Royal, the establishment of a modern ferry service for Kingston Harbour, the redevelopment of the downtown Kingston Waterfront and the restoration of Old Spanish Town Square, are all important component sub-projects of the Historic Triangle Development.
Port Royal Heritage Tourism Attraction & Cruise Ship Port Of Call
The concept of this project involves the restoration of the historic town of Port Royal including the basic infrastructure (roads, drains, water supply, sewage treatment and solid waste disposal) the construction of a Cruise Ship Pier and a wide variety of shops, restaurants, taverns, sidewalk cafe's, museum displays and entertainment to present Port Royal as a vibrant exciting living history museum.
Central to the success of this project is sustainability in relation to the human, natural, physical, economic, cultural and social environment. From the planning stage, the developers have made every effort to involve as many of the residents as possible in the planning and implementation of all aspects of the project. All studies and their findings, including the environmental impact assessment studies, architectural drawings and other reports and drawings to date, have been presented to public fora in the community and copies made available in the Port Royal library.
This project is the critical "gateway" for opening up the potential of "The Historic Triangle" for tourism
FINANCING THE PORT ROYAL PROJECT
To realise the vision of developing Port Royal, the most important next step is obtaining the financing of the project. This requires immediate action in the following five key areas:
Agree on the concept and scope of phase 1 of the project; Obtain a commitment to proceed with phase 1 from the current shareholders in the company led by the GOJ; Present the concept and scope of phase 1 to the Cruise Lines to obtain their buy in and commitment to include Port Royal as a port of call for cruise ships within two to three years as long as at least phase 1 is completed; Develop a detailed Business Plan to form the basis for an Initial Public Offering of shares to raise the necessary capital for implementing the project; If we assume the cost of phase I is approximately US$80 million, with US$20 million for the infrastructure funded by GOJ and the remaining US$60 million to be raised by the private sector, then the private portion should be raised with a combination of Equity from the private sector US$30 million (US$5 already spent plus another US25 million of new equity) plus US$30 million from loans on the international market. The key now is to allocate the responsibility to undertake the above five steps to a team that will focus on preparing the project for financing. Whatever the approach, timing is critical and there is no better time than the present with the cruise lines looking for exciting new Ports of Call for their over sixty new ships coming off the dockyards to be put into service over the next two to three years.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The economic impact of the Port Royal project is expected in several ways however the most significant are the generation of over 30,000 jobs from direct and indirect sources and the spreading of over US$140 million per annum from expenditure by visitors to the area. The development of Port Royal will be a tremendous means to provide opportunities for a significant number of the people living within the Historic Triangle. If we are to seriously tackle addressing the social symptom of crime and violence in a sustainable way, the development of the Historic Triangle as a major hub for Cultural Heritage Tourism must be pursued with total commitment and full support of the Public and Private Sectors.
A MODERN FERRY SERVICE FOR KINGSTON HARBOUR
The establishment of a modern Ferry Service for Kingston Harbour is critical for the success and viability of the integrated development of the Historic Triangle.
A modern Ferry Service for the people of Port Royal, Portmore, Kingston and all the rest of Jamaica will allow for the efficient and relaxed movement of people around the seventh largest natural harbour in the world.
The resultant reduction of time and traffic congestion around downtown and to the airport alone will make this a viable proposition.
In particular people traveling to the airport from St. Catherine, Clarendon, or Manchester, would welcome the idea of parking in a secure area near the Forum Hotel in Portmore, and taking the Ferry to the Airport and saving all the time, gas and traffic hassle to travel more than thirty miles around the harbour by road. Furthermore, on their return to Portmore, having seen their friends or family safely on their flight, they could relax on the way back to take in some of the delights of the Port Royal Heritage attraction and shop in the plaza at the ferry station in Portmore before returning home.
The project concept must focus on the efficient movement of people around the harbour between four key nodes. These are:
Downtown Kingston Waterfront Portmore, adjacent the Forum Hotel The Norman Manley International Airport Port Royal The Development of Downtown Kingston
The Downtown Kingston Area, beginning from the waterfront at Piers 1 and 2 and the existing craft market, Victoria Pier building to Bank of Jamaica and up King, Orange, Princess, Church, Duke and East Streets, should be developed to become a transformed secure entertainment, shopping and parking area. In particular the existing craft market should be converted to an entertainment, shopping and dining/food court type complex more focused on an exciting positive experience, rather than simply a "craft market", to be more in keeping with what the old 'Victoria Craft Market' was in the 1960's. King Street, between the Waterfront and Parade, should be closed to vehicular traffic and converted to a pedestrian shopping, recreation and entertainment area. Additionally, the entire downtown Kingston market and shopping districts should be transformed into a vibrant exciting area for a truly authentic Jamaican cultural experience.
Portmore, by the Forum Hotel, should be transformed to include a mixed development including:
a ferry pier; passenger handling facilities and a supermarket & shopping mall complex; a secure parking area for cars, taxis' and buses; a residential apartment complex or mixed with a hotel restaurants and entertainment facilities similar to the existing Rodneys Arms and Cactus night club. The Norman Manley International Airport will need a ferry pier linked to the existing and improved passenger terminal and shopping areas.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPANISH TOWN SQUARE
Several organizations including the UDC, St. Catherine Parish Council, St. Catherine Parish Development Committee, St. Catherine Chamber of Commerce, Spanish Town Heritage Trust and the Iron Bridge Foundation are all working on projects and areas of Spanish Town. I will not attempt to detail the status and next steps regarding the restoration of Spanish Town as there are far more knowledgeable persons in this area, but this aspect of the development of the Historic Triangle is also extremely important.
KINGSTON HARBOUR SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
For several years we have been allowing approximately 25 million gallons of raw sewage to enter Kingston Harbour daily. This has negatively impacted the harbour and surrounding areas to the extent that the Gunboat and Buccaneer beaches have been closed, and cross the harbour swim events and virtually all watersports in the harbour have been abandoned.
The Port Royal mangroves, the entire Peninsular and the reefs inside and outside the harbour have all been negatively affected.
The commencement of the sewage treatment facilities for Kingston Harbour is now critical and this project needs to be implemented as a priority in 2003. Other Projects Other projects, which need to be developed, include:
the upgrading/development of Hope, Cinchona, Castleton and Bath Botanical Gardens; the upgrading/development of Milk River Bath and Bath in St. Thomas as major attractions/mineral baths; the expansion of clientele for racing at Caymanas Park; increased patronage of Caymanas & Constant Spring Golf Clubs; Increased business for Rockfort Mineral Bath, Devon House, Bob Marley Museum, The National Gallery, Hope Zoo, The Institute of Jamaica, theaters such as Ward Theater and The Little Theater, as well as, the art galleries of Kingston. New projects such as the development of cable cars into the Blue Mountains & other exciting innovative ideas will then become the norm rather than the exception. Conclusions
The development of the Historic Triangle of Port Royal, Kingston and Spanish Town must now proceed with full cooperation and collaboration of the Public and Private sectors of Jamaica with the total involvement of the communities within the areas.
The economic benefits to the entire southeast end of Jamaica and in particular the Historic Triangle will be tremendous.
Jobs in entertainment, art, craft, tour guiding, restaurants, galleries, taverns and bars will abound, not to mention the jobs created during the construction and implementation phases of project.
The foreign exchange inflows, which will benefit a wide cross section of the people in these areas, will provide income that most other industries have not been able to provide.
Let us act positively together now to implement the sustainable development of the Historic Triangle of Jamaica. It is undoubtedly our richest resource and potential savior for the economic and social well being of the entire area and the people of the communities within the areas. The time for action is NOW.
Robert Stephens, President, Pragma Consultants Ltd., 110 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6. Tel 927-8513/909-6338:e-mail bspragma@hotmail.com.
