Negril Beach Park to be updated using Harmony Beach Park blueprint
Published:Friday | October 20, 2023 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE TOURISM Enhancement Fund (TEF) is seeking to assure residents that the transformation of the Negril Beach Park in Westmoreland will be coming on stream within this fiscal year, ending March 31, 2024.
According to Dr Carey Wallace, executive director at the TEF, there are 12 beaches across the island that are earmarked for development with Negril, Priory and Paggie beaches expected to be at the front of the line.
He said these beaches will be developed using the $1.3 billion Harmony Beach Park model in Montego Bay which was opened to the public in 2021.
That 16-acre facility boasts 132 parking spaces, restroom facilities, an activity centre and a jogging trail, among its amenities..
“We have been diligent in getting a lot of the design works going and there are three that are about to commence in terms of breaking ground for actual works being done, and Negril Beach Park is included in that three,” Wallace told The Gleaner.
“We have Priory as the other one and we have Paggie beach as the third,” the TEF boss said.
Those beaches, he said, are, “far down the wicket when it comes to designs so we anticipate that we will get to those first”.
Wallace said the plan of the TEF regarding these beaches is to ensure that all Jamaicans are able to seamlessly have access to them.
“To ensure that Jamaicans have a well-appointed beach near to them in their communities where they can have adequate parking, adequate restroom facilities, solid waste management, Wi-Fi, utilities so that they and their families can enjoy the gems of what they have been blessed with here in Jamaica,” he stated.
As for the status of the other nine which includes the Old Steamer Beach in Hopewell, and the Watson Taylor Beach in Lucea, Hanover, the TEF executive director said that they are being attended to and will form part of the next fiscal year of 2024-2025.
The others are Success in St James, Murdock and Rio Nuevo in St Mary, Winnifred Beach in Portland, Alligator Pond, and Crane Road Beach in St Elizabeth, and Rocky Point in St Thomas. Wallace said their development is part of the plan to ensure that people get quality experience from the island’s beaches as they deserve.