Adrian Frater, News Editor

Tulloch

Western Bureau:

More than 30 years after he became the first Member of Parliament for the then newly created West Central St. James constituency, former Tourism Minister Francis Tulloch, a noted attorney-at-law, will once again be contesting the seat for the ruling People's National Party (PNP) in the upcoming general election.

Tulloch, who is coming out of retirement, wants to complete his 1990s development plans for Montego Bay/St.James, which spawned projects such as the Creek Street Development, the dualisation of the Howard Cooke Highway, the Northern Coastal Highway, the con-struction of the St. James Police Headquarters and the regula-risation of communities such as Ros>No new plans

"My plans are not new, they are a continuation of what I started in the 1990s," Tulloch tells The Sunday Gleaner. "I already have written approval for the projects that were not completed, so it is really about just getting them done."

Among the projects Tulloch plans to complete are expanding the Bogue Road into four lanes; creating a Montego Bay bypass in the Falmouth direction to expose the beauty of the coastline and ease congestion; the creation of new trade-training facilities; expanding the information-technology sector; regularisation of informal deve-lopments, and opening up agri-culture for the youngsters in the farming belt.

While conceding he is not well known among the younger voters, the charismatic Tulloch says he can take comfort in the fact that the older folks, who are fully aware of the kind of representation he gave in the past, will be able to tell their children good things about him.

"Part of my plan is to open the eyes of the young people to the exciting possibilities that exist for upward mobility in tourism, agriculture and IT," says Tulloch.

"That is why I intend to devote a lot of time to community development and creating training opportunities."

He adds: "We have not yet started to properly tap into Montego Bay's real potential as a major tourist centre. It is, therefore, essential that we properly prepare our young people to meet the growth and expansion that is coming."