Agri sector agrees with multistorey buildings for New Negril - ... but other concerns still pressing

Justice of the Peace and Vice-President of the Hanover branch of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, Colin Johnson, says he is in agreement with the Cabinet proposal to enable future hotel developments within the proposed New Negril to be of unlimited heights.

“I am for vertical buildings instead of horizontal, because we do not have sufficient land space. If they go laterally, it will take up too much land, which could be used for other purposes,” Johnson said.

According to the lay magistrate, contrary to suggestions by some hoteliers in Negril that it would be more beneficial if future construction is done laterally, high-rise building would be more beneficial as there is not enough land space along the Hanover coastline to facilitate horizontal expansion.

“Different people have their own agendas and are looking about their own interests,” he continued. “We need to look at the wider picture, and that is why we need to have a development order for the entire Hanover and whichever developer is coming in [they] conform to the rules ... . We must do what is in the national interest and not what suits particular people or interest groups.”

He added: “You cannot eat your cake and have it. We don’t have the land mass. Land is limited here in this country, so the further they go horizontally is the more land they are going to take up.”

Using countries such as Singapore as an example, he said they built their cities vertically due to limited land mass, suffering no adverse environmental impacts.

“Go up,” he declared. “I hear everybody talking about Singapore. Singapore’s buildings go up, high in the air, so they have land for other purposes on the ground.”

He is convinced that the way to go is to copy the Singapore an model, because they have small amounts of land and they go up because they have a large population. In fact, that country’s development was done gradually.

“They did their assessments as they went along, just like Cuba. Cuba’s approach to tourism right now is they build and they implement a moratorium, and do an assessment before going any further,” he added.

Turning to other concerns, Johnson also expressed unease that since the announcement about the New Negril was made by representatives of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) in March at a Negril Chamber of Commerce meeting in Westmoreland, only one community meeting has been held by the agency for Hanover, which had less than 10 people in attendance.

He also noted that many persons in Hanover were concerned that decisions continue to be made in Kingston and then imposed on them without them being involved in the decision-making process. He argues that the use of the name New Negril to label lands that span as far as the outskirts of Lucea town appeared to be a real estate marketing ploy.

“Geographically, Negril is Negril. It should not be New Negril. What they’re trying to do is market it as Negril in order to charge a higher price for the real estate; I have no problem with that. But the same way they developed Negril from scratch from the hippie days, why can’t they call it Green Island? There is no New Negril. Negril is Negril,” he said.

He sees these things as having motives behind them. He describes it as like the playing a poker game, whereas the players don’t show their cards at the table.

“Why is Black River not called Mandeville? Why is Treasure Beach not called Black River and look how close they are? There are some motives behind that, which are not coming on the table. I think they will strategically, over time, brand Lucea as Montego Bay,” he said.

He added: “These guys in Kingston sat behind their desks and decide what they want to do, like the buccaneers, seeing Hanover as the new frontier for invasion, because the seven-mile beach in Negril is gone,” he said.