Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
CUSTOS ROYLAND Barrett, a key player in major plans to develop Trelawny, has embraced the Tourism Product Development Company's (TPDCo) decision to designate Falmouth the parish capital a resort area.
"It has come at the right time as Falmouth is poised for major development," Custos Barrett told The Gleaner on Monday. "We have been pushing for this for a long time so we are naturally quite happy that it has finally happened."
In a recent release from TPDCo, it was stated that Falmouth, which is internationally revered for its rich Georgian heritage, has been designated Jamaica's seventh resort area.
RESORT DESIGNATION
The Trelawny capital joins Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Negril, The South Coast, Portland and the Kingston Metropolitan Area, which were previously designated.
"The decision to designate Falmouth a resort area was multifaceted," said TPDCo executive director Michael Muirhead, in explaining the decision to upgrade Falmouth's status. "The town is rich in culture and history, and its architectural designs date back to the 18th century, during the Georgian period."
In emphasising the importance of Falmouth being accorded resort area status, Custos Barrett said it would go a long way in creating a proper platform for development.
According to him, in former times, Falmouth's development was tied to the Montego Bay Resort Board but unfortunately yielded very little success.
"Under the Montego Bay Resort Board we did not get anything," noted an optimistic-sounding Custos Barrett. "Under our new status, we will now have our own budget and our money to do the things we have always wanted to do."
DIRECT FUNDING
As a resort area, Falmouth will be able to access direct funding from TPDCo to facilitate its own development. To that end, an executive committee, headed by Dr. James Parrent, is already in place and formulating plans to capitalise on their new status.
"As a first step, I think we could look at the whole matter of identifying the various historic sites and putting in the appropriate signs," said Custos Barrett who, although not a member of Dr. Parrent's executive committee, plans to work closely with the group. "We could also move right away to develop pamphlets to highlight the various buildings and sites."
With Trelawny poised for major multimillion dollar development such as Harmony Cove and the new Greenfield Stadium, which will host the opening ceremony for Cricket World Cup 2007, it is widely anticipated that Falmouth is destined to become a major tourism and commercial centre.
