The Chinese want more
Published:Sunday | August 1, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
THE GOVERNMENT’S ambitious plans to transform the vast expanse of unused Caymanas lands in St Catherine into an elaborate business district appear in danger of collapse.
The Sunday Gleaner has learnt that Chinese entrepreneurs who have been approached to turn the Government’s vision into reality are demanding much more than the prime St Catherine lands.
They want a major piece of the all-important Port of Kingston.
The entrepreneurs with deep pockets out of China have their eyes firmly fixed on the lucrative port.
“They have linked the Caymanas lands to the port,” Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Karl Samuda confirmed recently.
According to Samuda, the Chinese, who were approached by the Bruce Golding administration to be Jamaica’s major business partner in the deal, have proposed that they snare the bulk of the main Kingston Port as well.
“This has come as a disappointment, but the Government is seriously assessing the situation,” Samuda told The Sunday Gleaner.
He said the Chinese had been approached to develop a massive business enterprise on 1,000 acres of the land dubbed the Caymanas Enterprise Zone, but the foreigners insist that the plan should encompass the port.
“They said the port is integral to that development and cannot be considered without it, so there has been a delay,” Samuda told The Sunday Gleaner.
But Samuda argued that while the central plank of the elaborate project he announced a year ago had hit a major snag, it had not crashed.
The minister added: “So the plans have not been shelved, but there is a lengthy process in selling the port, and this is causing some delays,” the minister said.
Back to negotiating
Samuda admitted that this latest development has sent the Government back to the negotiating table. However, he stressed that the local facet of the business plans is well advanced.
“In the interim, we are focusing on the development of 200 acres of the land for the local industry,” Samuda told The Sunday Gleaner.
“We are awaiting the valuation and surveyors’ report today (Friday). So that means that the Factories Corporation of Jamaica can proceed,” the minister added.
He said 40,000 of the 200 acres will accommodate an informatics facility, which is now being prepared to accommodate the ICT industry, the services industry and provide warehousing and light manufacturing such as agro-processing.
Samuda disclosed that potential vendors had been identified.
The industry minister had announced last year that the area would be developed within three to five years and would create about 10,000 jobs.
At that time, the ministry said its plans would be harmonised with those of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), which owns the lands.
The UDC last year announced a development thrust for the area, with a US$3 billion investment plan.
The plan was intended to include the 1,000-acre industrial estate, sporting facilities, as well as some 4,000 new homes in a 400-acre development to be called ‘Caymanas Village’.
Wayne Chen, UDC chairman, confirmed to The Gleaner late last week that more than 122 acres of the property had been sold to New Era Homes Limited to develop middle-income housing.