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The way is now clear for construction work to start on the long-awaited Morant Bay Urban Centre (MBUC) in the parish of St Thomas after the partners on the project signed the construction agreement on Wednesday (March 16).

The partners are MBUC Limited, which will own and operate the facility, Factories Corporation of Jamaica Limited (FCJ), China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) and the National Commercial Bank (NCB). The agreement is to construct the 436,000 square foot MBUC at the site of the old Goodyear factory in St Thomas. 

The completion and signing of the construction agreement with CHEC is the last phase before the beginning of construction. On January 28, MBUC Limited signed the loan agreement with NCB. Over the last year-and-half, there has been a demand for additional space, which has moved the square footage from 365,000 to 436,000 sq. ft. 

MBUC Limited has also moved the construction cost from J$5-billion to J$5.9-billion. The MBUC will see the amalgamation of services provided by the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and private sector interests. 

Among the entities to take up space at the development are the St Thomas Municipal Corporation; Ministry of Justice, through the St Thomas Parish Court; other government entities located in Morant Bay; and several private sector companies including KFC, Burger King and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, just to name a few.

Symbolic signing

In symbolising the beginning of the construction phase, FCJ chairman, Lyttleton ‘Tanny’ Shirley; CHEC Country Manager, Dangran Bi; and NCB Relationship Manager Corporate Banking, Cornella Alladice signed the construction contract. This was witnessed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Western St Thomas, James Robertson; Chief Architect of Plexus Limited, Bryan Morris and other representatives of NCB and CHEC Construction. 

Since the groundbreaking in 2019, the start of construction has seen delays due mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had impacted the progress of the detailed engineering designs and the finalizing of the financial and construction agreements. 

According to the FCJ Chairman, ”this time was useful as it created the opportunity to assess all the details.” He made known that getting to this point has been a journey for FCJ and more so for the people of St. Thomas. 

“With all the challenges that faced us during the COVID-19 pandemic, our partners used the opportunity to go back to make sure that we were doing the right thing, do further risk assessment and worked with us to ensured that what we were doing would benefit Jamaica,” Shirley added. 

Journey long and challenging

For the CHEC Country Manager, the journey has been long and challenging. Bi told the signing ceremony that the partners have dealt with many obstacles, but acknowledged that regardless, the timing is right to begin construction. 

According to him, “I didn’t expect such quick success and achievement for our project. But I was very moved by your perseverance, hard work and I learnt a lot. I really thank all my team, FCJ team and NCB team for the hard work for the recent two years. You know, the Southern Coast highway is almost over in St. Thomas, so our project is almost starting… which means, it’s major time for this parish. So, I’m very honoured to be a part of this.” 

For NCB, their involvement in the MBUC is very important in supporting the development and the parish of St Thomas. NCB believes that projects such as this are very critical for national development. The bank has been committed to supporting infrastructure development across the country for a number of years.

Alladice explained that NCB is “Very proud that St. Thomas finally is no longer the forgotten parish as we believe this will be a landmark development. We are happy to be supporting this project not only as a lender but also through Stratus as an equity partner in the project. I think we should cement that we’re very committed to this project and very happy to be a part of it.” 

Game-changing project

The partners agreed that the project will definitely be a game-changer for how urban developments should be structured for economic growth in rural parishes such as St Thomas.

In giving his remarks at the signing, MP Robertson gave his support and highlighted his eagerness for the start of the development.

“We have been waiting for this, as the people of the east, for almost 160 years. As MP for over 20 years, that tells you how long I’ve been waiting. We used to be referred to in the east as the forgotten parish but today is a historic day. It’s a day that we can’t forget,” said Robertson.

“It is indeed the blueprint for future Jamaica. Not only iconic but will set the tone across the Caribbean as to how [the] public and private sector can fuse in a manner to show how business can be operated. We will continue to play the role of building more urban centres across the island according to the directives issued by our economic growth and job creation minister and prime minister, Andrew Holness,” Shirley emphasized.