ST JAMES, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the Caymanas Special Economic Zone in St Catherine, which will be developed on 650 acres of land, will start for Jamaica 60th anniversary celebrations.
"So already, Minister Aubyn Hill has been tasked with putting all the pieces, all the elements together to ensure that we can have this project at least started in significant ways in celebration of Jamaica 60th year of independence," Holness stated.
"We've been talking about this project for more than a decade. I'm here to tell you that it will be a reality," the Prime Minister added.
Speaking at the World Free Zones Organisation’s (WFO) Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE) 2022, underway at the Montego Bay Convention Centre Tuesday morning, Holness said the Port Authority of Jamaica has been mandated to get the project done.
"Now we have given the Port Authority of Jamaica specific mandate that it must leverage its balance sheet, its experience and know how, it must partner with the private sector, it must de-risk this project and get it done," Holness stated.
"Several years ago the World Bank sponsored a feasibility study of this project and concluded that it will be suited for warehousing and logistics, for ICT and BPO, for robotics and artificial intelligence, furniture, paper products, plastics, repair services, pharmaceuticals, among other such activities. But it just didn't happen."
The Prime Minister underscored that the Caymanas Special Economic Zone is located in an area with the largest cluster of university graduates in the region.
"On another important level which is great feature for the Caymanas Special Economic Zone is that it is located right in the middle of the largest concentration of university graduates in the Caribbean. And it is also located in the middle of the largest concentration of English-speaking people in the region. So it has this natural human capital that can drive into development. We will get this project done," Holness insisted.