Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) says it welcomes the announcement by Government that it will postpone the construction date of the Montego Bay Convention Centre, as long as it does not result in an ultimate cancellation of the project.

On Tuesday, the Government moved the construction start date from this month to April 2008; a change that the JHTA said will not affect its bid to host the premier tourism event, Caribbean Marketplace in 2009.

The Gleaner has learnt that the eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia has also put in a bid for the event, which is considered the most important marketing meeting in the region.

Organised by the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Caribbean Marketplace, which will be held at the mega Atlantis resort in The Bahamas next January, was last held in Jamaica in 2005 at a cost of US$1.7 million.

Owing to the absence of the convention facilities, the organisers were forced to rent a 50,000-sq. ft tent at US$1.1 million; the price included shipment and assembling.

However, JHTA president Wayne Cummings is not disturbed by the postponement of the construction project.

"The proposed centre is too small and the configuration could not hold a Caribbean Marketplace, which requires at least an area of 45,000 sq. ft., which does not include press or VIP areas," he stated, cementing comments made by his predecessor Horace Peterkin, who expressed the same view at a meeting with the Urban Development Corporation earlier this year.

Wants open plan

According to Mr. Cummings, the current proposal calls for various rooms, but his organisation actually wants an open plan that can be broken down.

More important, he is arguing that the previous Government had no consultation in relation to the design and layout of the conference facility with his association.

In the meantime, former JHTA president Horace Peterkin said he was prepared to wait a year or two, rather than end up with something inadequate.

"Fifty thousand square feet would be outgrown in no time. The plans were done up years ago, and we have since built several more hotels," noted Peterkin, adding that the minimum requirement now should be no less than 85,000 sq. ft. in convention space.

Estimated a year ago to cost US$43.75 million (J$2.9 billion), the financing of the building was being funded by the Chinese Government.

The facility is slated to be built on 35 acres of land near the Rose Hall Great House.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com