Durrant Pate/Contributor

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has committed the government will provide greater oversight on the restoration of heritage sites and other community projects funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

Minister Bartlett has promised to put in place management systems in place for the restoration of TEF funded heritage sites and other community projects. This move is being done to ensure transparency and accountability in how Jamaica’s tourism dollars are being spent on these projects.

Minister Bartlett declared that better management of these sites and projects will be executed before any more funds are expended for such works. The minister has acknowledged that he is concerned that a lot of projects are devoid of any proper oversight and left to deteriorate over time.

Spending millions on heritage sites restoration

According to him, “We spend millions of dollars on community centres and playfields across Jamaica, helping to enrich communities, and when you pass there, they are in ruins. We have built many beach improvement facilities across Jamaica and when you go there months afterwards, it is again in disrepair. That must stop.”

Bartlett contended further, “We have also done the same thing with heritage sites only to find out that there was never a proper management system in place, and which, inevitably, caused a run-down of these facilities.”

He was speaking to tourism stakeholders and business interests at the official opening of the restored Holland Bamboo scenic avenue in St Elizabeth last week.

The restoration of the Holland Bamboo heritage site was to address damage due to hurricanes as well as recent fires.

The project was undertaken by the ministries of tourism and agriculture through J$8.5 million from the TEF and involved adding 400 bamboo plants, establishing a nursery, infrastructure repairs, procurement of tools and equipment, construction of cattle traps, and installation of ground cover plants.