Major infrastructural project on it East Central St. James

No. 46 Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Member of Parliament for East Central St. James, Edmund Bartlett, is head over heels regarding a massive infrastructural upgrading project now taking place in sections of the constituency.
   On a media tour of the Grange Penn in Lilliput, St. James community on Sunday, Mr. Bartlett who is also the country’s Minister of Tourism showed off several roadways which have already been upgraded and others on which work is taking place. He says the work which is being done over three phases will cost an estimated $1/2B.
   The first phase of the roadwork in Lilliput is still being done and should be completed within 18 months. A total of 26 roads will be rehabilitated at the end of this project.
   According to Mr. Bartlett, “We are now going through phase two of the programme which deals with the upgrading of roads after which we will focus on the provision of houses for tourism workers. We want to ensure that the Grange Penn development is in line with what has taken place in Lilliput proper. The Grange Penn development came out of the Operation Pride project and the residents there are anxiously awaiting the completed project”.
   Turning to the housing project itself, Mr. Bartlett said “that is part of the larger development programme for the entire Lilliput area. We will spend a part of the $1B allocation through the Ministry of Housing that has been authorized by the Prime Minister on that. As you are aware areas in Ocho Rios and St. James have been earmarked for squatter settlement development and this include Lilliput, Norwood, Barrett Town, Barrett Hall and Long Bay.”
   The East Central St. James MP said “The overall development is part of efforts to add value to the area which runs along the Elegant Corridor that stretches from the round-about at the Sangster International Airport to the border of St. James and Trelawny and Greenwood. We will be spending $250M on the Elegant Corridor in creating a destination within a destination. The people who work in the tourism industry must see and feel the tourism dollars working for them and
the country.