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Prime Minister Bruce Golding is moving quickly to stave off a political row over plans for the redevelopment of downtown Kingston.
This follows an incident Wednesday afternoon involving Member of Parliament for Central Kingston Ronnie Thwaites.
Now Mr. Golding is rushing to smooth ruffled feathers.
Mr. Thwaites, who was among invitees to a function put on by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to present draft plans for downtown Kingston, stormed out prior to the start of the event after realising that his constituency had been omitted from the redevelopment project.
Mr. Golding who arrived after Mr. Thwaites' departure rushed to do damage control by indicating that the development plans are still in the early stages.
He said it is likely that Central Kingston will be included in the future.
"The plan is unfurling so don't reject it as yet because you haven't seen enough of Central Kingston. What I would say is that I don't know the planning boundaries that you are using but certainly if we are talking about downtown Kingston we would certainly have to include that section on the eastern side of South Camp Road," said Mr. Golding.
But speaking with RJR News on Wednesday night Mr. Thwaites said he was upset about the lack of regard shown for his constituency.
He said the situation was compounded by the nonchalant response from officials of the UDC.
"I took up the matter with one of the members of the redevelopment company Mr. Kennedy, the honourable Morris Facey, and the lady who is managing the UDC and quite frankly none of them showed much concern in the circumstances I am certainly misplaced and so I left," said Mr. Thwaites.
And the UDC has unveiled a massive 10-year plan for the re-development of downtown Kingston.
The plan, which will run into billions of dollars, will involve more than 40 projects.
In the first phase which has already started, 13 projects will be undertaken.
These include the construction of the new Parliament Building, a new 200 room Hotel and Conference Centre and a bridge linking downtown Kingston with Port Royal.
The building of the Transport Centre as well as the redevelopment of the St. William Grant Park are underway.
While not putting a specific figure to the cost of the development, officials of the UDC say funding will come from the Development Bank of Jamaica and the Chinese government which has donated more than one million US dollars.
Assistance will also come from Cuba which has promised to provide 13 construction workers.
Speaking at Wednesday night's presentation at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Mr. Golding who has responsibility for the UDC, challenged the Corporation to ensure that the downtown redevelopment plan is executed effectively.
"In redeveloping the city it cannot be that you have to soldier on labouriously with every phase. There is going to have to be some soldiering and there are going to be phases where its like you're trying to push a truck laden with goods up a hill but if the concept is right and the planning is right you will get to a stage where you're going to have to run to catch up with it because it just takes off by itself. That didn't happen 40 years ago,"
Mr. Golding reminded the developers that the residents of downtown Kingston were an integral part of the re-development process.
"We are not moving the people from downtown so we have to create a city that will have new people coming in but must accommodate and integrate the people who are already here," he said.
This follows an incident Wednesday afternoon involving Member of Parliament for Central Kingston Ronnie Thwaites.
Now Mr. Golding is rushing to smooth ruffled feathers.
Mr. Thwaites, who was among invitees to a function put on by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to present draft plans for downtown Kingston, stormed out prior to the start of the event after realising that his constituency had been omitted from the redevelopment project.
Mr. Golding who arrived after Mr. Thwaites' departure rushed to do damage control by indicating that the development plans are still in the early stages.
He said it is likely that Central Kingston will be included in the future.
"The plan is unfurling so don't reject it as yet because you haven't seen enough of Central Kingston. What I would say is that I don't know the planning boundaries that you are using but certainly if we are talking about downtown Kingston we would certainly have to include that section on the eastern side of South Camp Road," said Mr. Golding.
But speaking with RJR News on Wednesday night Mr. Thwaites said he was upset about the lack of regard shown for his constituency.
He said the situation was compounded by the nonchalant response from officials of the UDC.
"I took up the matter with one of the members of the redevelopment company Mr. Kennedy, the honourable Morris Facey, and the lady who is managing the UDC and quite frankly none of them showed much concern in the circumstances I am certainly misplaced and so I left," said Mr. Thwaites.
And the UDC has unveiled a massive 10-year plan for the re-development of downtown Kingston.
The plan, which will run into billions of dollars, will involve more than 40 projects.
In the first phase which has already started, 13 projects will be undertaken.
These include the construction of the new Parliament Building, a new 200 room Hotel and Conference Centre and a bridge linking downtown Kingston with Port Royal.
The building of the Transport Centre as well as the redevelopment of the St. William Grant Park are underway.
While not putting a specific figure to the cost of the development, officials of the UDC say funding will come from the Development Bank of Jamaica and the Chinese government which has donated more than one million US dollars.
Assistance will also come from Cuba which has promised to provide 13 construction workers.
Speaking at Wednesday night's presentation at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Mr. Golding who has responsibility for the UDC, challenged the Corporation to ensure that the downtown redevelopment plan is executed effectively.
"In redeveloping the city it cannot be that you have to soldier on labouriously with every phase. There is going to have to be some soldiering and there are going to be phases where its like you're trying to push a truck laden with goods up a hill but if the concept is right and the planning is right you will get to a stage where you're going to have to run to catch up with it because it just takes off by itself. That didn't happen 40 years ago,"
Mr. Golding reminded the developers that the residents of downtown Kingston were an integral part of the re-development process.
"We are not moving the people from downtown so we have to create a city that will have new people coming in but must accommodate and integrate the people who are already here," he said.
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