By Fernando Davis

While the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought much of the tourism sector to a screeching halt, owner of the Double V Multi-Purpose Complex in Ocho Rios, St Ann, Colin Mills, remains undeterred in going forward with expansion plans.

Mills, during a recent tour of his property, said he has every confidence that tourism will make a triumphant return and that he didn’t want to be caught napping in terms of preparedness.

And while admitting that he, “like everybody else,” has been facing easily the biggest challenge of his life in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mills said he is willing to roll the dice in pumping millions of dollars in upgrading the tourism side of his complex, creating an attraction for the ages.

“I didn’t get to where I am today by being timid,” Mills noted. “I am not going to sit here and wait for hotels to come on stream before I do something. I know of work to be restarted on hotels…we have been told that foreign investors are still interested in continuing with plans to erect thousands of hotel rooms in St. Ann and neighbouring communities. I am willing to take my chances in doing all my infrastructural work and upgrading now…pandemic or no pandemic.”

Mills’ Double V, a landmark in the resort town of Ocho Rios, has been in operation now for 52 years, with the jerk centre being one of the oldest in the country. It currently has a picturesque poolside ambiance, lounge chairs and a nature walk for visitors.

A former councillor for the Ocho Rios Division, Mills said he was a part of the Ocho Rios Development plan spearheaded by late Prime Minister Edward Seaga, back in the 1980s and credits Double V as one of those businesses that has stood the test of time.

“A lot of businesses have come and gone but we are still here. We used to have up to 3,000 tourists passing through Double V on a weekly basis back in the good old days,” he noted. “Ours was the best jerk anywhere in St. Ann and visitors couldn’t get enough of us. Even when the bypass road was built, we still managed to hold our own and was rewarded for our quality and consistency.”

Mills said the new expansion plan is to create an eating area in the nature walk leg of the tour in addition to having a fishing area where guests can take their fresh catch and have it prepared for consumption by the kitchen staff.

The Double V boss is expecting the expansion to massively increase his daily visitor tally, noting that “there will be nothing like this anywhere on the island’s northern coast.”

He further pointed out that as a part of the resilient corridor, his business is Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) compliant, and will continue to follow health and safety guidelines mandated by the Ministry of Health.

Mills, without tying down a figure, said he expects the expansion of the Double V Jerk Centre will run him into millions of dollars, arguing that it will “be money well spent” and will create lots of employment and greatly enhance “the tourism offerings here in Ocho Rios.”

For his part, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chukka Caribbean Adventures and one of the Caribbean’s biggest attractions, Marc Melville, a St. Ann native, said he has been familiar with Double V as a boy growing up, calling it historic and a business that holds  pride of place in the hearts of the people of Ocho Rios.

“If you are not familiar with Ocho Rios and wants to meet someone at a familiar location then look no further than Double V,” he noted. “My entire family has been visiting this location for years and Colin Mills has been one of the greatest hosts you can find.”

Chairman of the island’s Cruise Shipping Council and Councillor for the Ocho Rios Division, Michael Belnavis, said that Mills must be commended for his unwavering belief that both country and the tourism sector will rebound from the COVID-19 onslaught, adding that “he is willing to put his money where his heart is and should be lauded for taking such a huge risk in this climate of uncertainty.”

Belnavis said that with Ocho Rios being one of the premiere tourism locations in the country it is important that businesses position themselves for life in the post COVID-19 era, noting that “I am for the old adage that fortune does favour the brave.”