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Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared that there is an urgent need for urban renewal islandwide, as the large number of derelict buildings and aged infrastructure will drive away lifestyle and economic growth.
In fact, Holness said the Government cannot lead the redevelopment of Jamaica and the urban renewal alone, but rather, the private sector should come on board to assist with the effort.
“A lot of our current infrastructure is aged and not well-maintained, and the longer these stay, then greater will be what we call urban blight,” said Holness, who was speaking last week at the ground-breaking of Pulse’s 30-unit housing development and opening of its Lifestyle Village at Villa Ronai in St Andrew.
“There will also be greater levels of deterioration in our built environment, which drives away lifestyle,” Holness said.
In using Kingston as an example, he said much of the built infrastructure is dated relative to other comparable countries in the region.
Still, he noted that cities such as London and Paris have aged infrastructure, but they are well maintained because they are part of their cultural heritage.
In Jamaica, however, he said that is not the case because the aged infrastructure is not being maintained.
“This process of constantly reinvesting in real estate, not just building new buildings, but regenerating existing buildings, is a very important process,” Holness said, adding that a built environment equates to quality lifestyle.
“In our context this process has slowed down for the last 30 years, resulting in a case where many of our communities have reached the point of urban decay and are in need of serious funds for renewal,” he argued.
While pointing to Central Kingston as one of the areas where urban decay is evident, Holness said it is good that “new energy” is emerging in the real estate market.
“… Developers want to now come and invest and buy properties and rebuild them and build new properties. It is good…,” he stated.
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At the same time, he warned that that process can become “chaotic, because you run into issues of how can this be done orderly with respecting the original definition of how these communities should develop.
“How do you respect people’s rights to privacy? How do you develop these properties and ensure that you maintain the environmental and urban planning standards?” Holness questioned.
As minister responsible for this process, he said: “It’s an everyday challenge and we are constantly looking at it, and we have tightened the regulations, and also the supervision of projects as well.”
In lauding Chairman of Pulse Investments Limited, Kingsley Cooper, for his company’s investment in the real estate market, Holness asserted the redevelopment of Jamaica cannot be carried out by the Government alone.
He said other private sector companies need to come on board to aid the Government in doing similar investments in the real estate arena, including the construction of more houses for the low and middle-income earners locally.
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