| KINGSTON, May 12 (JIS): |
 In
anticipation of the opportunities for the creation of new business
ventures in eco-tourism, farming and a variety of industrial enterprises
as a result of the opening of Highway 2000, the government is currently
working on a comprehensive development plan for the Highway corridor.
The planning process, which began in February this year, is expected to be completed by August, Development Minister Dr. Paul Robertson informed in his opening presentation of the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on Tuesday (May 12). He said with the opening of the highway, sections of the island that were not previously available for development, would now facilitate easy access to some of the best transportation links in the island, which augured well for the possibilities of creating these new business ventures. “The aim is to provide the orderly development required for the settlement and development of the lands that are being made available along the highway’s corridor,” Dr. Robertson explained. The segment of the highway where that work is to be undertaken in this planning project include Phase I and part of Phase II, stretching from Clarendon Park to Portmore, St. Catherine. The planning process is being spearheaded by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), with general coordination by the Ministers of Development and Land and Environment with funding provided by the Development Bank of Jamaica in association with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ). Minister Robertson said the plan would be backed by relevant data gathered from several public and private sector entities and that integral to the planning process were scheduled meetings between the planning team and various stakeholder groups, including local community interests and business entities with actual or proposed interests in the designated planning area. According to a Ministry paper also tabled in the House yesterday, “increasing numbers of agricultural properties within proximity to the Highway’s alignment have been neglected by their owners and had been left idle for various reasons. The land development and utilization commission has served idle land notices, idle land orders on some properties, while others have been certified for acquisition by the government…some of these properties fall within the highway corridor”. Urban development should be directed to areas within the limits of existing settlements and not allowed to compromise the economic viability of agricultural lands, the paper further outlined. Minister Robertson is to begin discussions with the Minister of Agriculture to ensure that an integral component of the development plan will be the action plan, with measures to “encourage economic stimulus, to revitalize the agricultural sector along the corridor”. |
