Cruise shipping port the catalyst to Black River growth – Freckleton

WESTERN BUREAU:

WHILE LOCALS bemoan the lack of development in St Elizabeth, seasoned advocate for development on the south coast, Anthony Freckleton, says improvement across the southern belt must be achieved collectively.

But for the breadbasket parish to maximise its full potential, he is of the view that a cruise shipping port in Black River could serve as the catalyst for real development.

“We are calling on the authorities to look at the Black River area as the next cruise shipping destination going forward. It’s the only way out for Black River just as how they did it for Falmouth in Trelawny,” says Anthony Freckleton, who was chairman for the now-defunct South Coast Resort Board.

Freckleton has always been an unrelenting voice, championing the untapped potential of the southern coast through cruise tourism into Black River and other townships along the corridor.

“The plan would see the development of Milk River. And between Milk River, Port Royal and Black River, we could have a series of small cruise ships going from Negril to Black River, to Milk River and to Port Royal, which would spur on much-needed investment,” he revealed Tuesday in a Gleaner interview.

Freckleton, who was responding to calls from the Black River Chamber of Commerce for underutilised lands in the parish to be developed towards fostering economic growth, said Santa Cruz and Junction have outpaced Black River in terms of development because they didn’t take on heritage tourism.

The parish is now being made to suffer further with the shuttering of in-person banking services and the closing down of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) office in that space.

“It’s been pretty slow,” said Dr Adeniyi Bamidele, treasurer of the Black River Chamber of Commerce, in reference to economic activities in the township. “Let us break down the barriers that are making things seemingly impossible for Black River.

“If I have the power, I think I will do whatever it is to take those lands from those who own it by putting a policy of use it or you lose it,” he stated. “If you don’t use it, we are going to increase your tax contribution.”

Bamidele said such drastic policy could help to bolster investment. “It may sound strange, but what is the essence of keeping land spaces when people who have the capital are looking for spaces to invest and can’t find it?”

Freckleton, while welcoming the need to have landowners enter into commercial activities, is urging caution, arguing that landowners would need to see attractive benefits. “It can’t be a one-sided affair because in this climate capital is not readily available. When you talk about the need for people to develop their land down there, yes, good call, but what is the return on the investment?”

Meanwhile, Derrick Sangster, mayor of Black River, says owners of lands are not normally interested in commercial activities.

“Traditionally, property owners are not persons who jump into investing in commercial activity just like that, but there has been some movement in the right direction,” Sangster told The Gleaner.

When quizzed about possible benefits to the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation which he chaired, Sangster said they will continue to encourage landowners and persons with capital to invest in the town, but noted that it is not able to provide any form of incentives.

“We are just facilitators, we assist in the process by ensuring that development is done orderly, but we are not in a position to offer any incentives for persons to invest,” the Black River mayor explained. “It’s an initiative that individuals in the private sector will have to take in terms of investing.”

One small business owner, who asked that her identity be withheld, argued that buying and selling is the major form of business taking place, and that it is largely among the Chinese, who are not circulating the money in the town. “Buying and selling taking place but the monies are repatriated, it’s going out of the town and out of the country, so it is not circulating to boost the economy,” she shared.