HAJ chairman to take charge of UDC board
Published:Thursday | May 30, 2024 | 12:10 AM
Norman Brown, the chairman of the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), has been appointed chairman of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the state agency that controls billions of dollars worth of government land and real estate.
Brown succeeds attorney-at-law Ransford Braham, KC, who led the board since 2016.
Companies of Jamaica records show that Brown is one of three directors in Estatebridge Development Limited and one of four shareholders.
Estatebridge Development Limited, incorporated in July 2020, also has as one of its shareholders Imperium Investments Holdings Limited, in which Prime Minister Andrew Holness is listed as the director and shareholder.
The second company was incorporated in June 2020.
On Wednesday, Brown committed to building on his predecessor’s leadership in getting the state agency to do more “big things” to transform rural townships in Jamaica.
That board’s tenure officially ended last September, but it continued to work until the new leadership was appointed earlier this month. Brown was a member of the board.
The UDC controls significant chunks of government real estate and is tasked with undertaking urban and rural renewal as well as orderly development in designated areas.
Brown told The Gleaner that his board would intensify the agency’s efforts to stimulate expansion in the economy through investments in major rural townships.
The UDC is also the project manager for the proposed Government Campus, which will feature a redeveloped National Heroes Park in Kingston. It is to include a new parliament building.
Brown owns Pembrooke Trucking, a transport, real estate development and cement-distribution company based in St James.
He is expected to continue as HAJ chairman.
In accordance with the government’s policy for board appointments, some members of the previous board have been retained while new officials are to be named.