KENRICK PICKNIGHT, SPORTSMAN BEING IN sports myself, having won many national schoolboy titles and senior national sporting titles, most notably winning the National Premier League with then Seba United, now Montego Bay United, I am appalled at the slow pace in which sporting infrastructure is being developed and maintained … The track at the Catherine Hall Stadium has been in disrepair for years causing even the Western Champs to be held in Spanish Town for the past three seasons. This is unacceptable. For Montego Bay tomaintain its city status, basic infrastructural development is not only needed, but highly required. I challenge those in authority to make Montego Bay a real city. Not just one for the expatriates and the tourists to enjoy, but for us locals who live our lives along these shores. NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2022 5 jamaica AT Is MoBay still deserving of city status? MARK KERR-JARRETT, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BARNETT LIMITED MOST DEFINITELY, Montego Bay is the regional centre for all of western Jamaica and it is the fastest developing and growing city in the Caribbean …What Montego Bay has contributed to Jamaica is really quite formidable …We have done a lot … Barnett Limited has forfeited hundreds of millions of dollars in potential income to the company to ensure that Montego Bay has the infrastructure and parameters that it needs to be a successful city. LLOYD B. SMITH, EDITOR, WESTERN MIRROR, FORMER MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT THE CITY not only deserves city status, but deserves more sustained and strategic attention from central and local governments. For starters, a comprehensive development plan is still eluding us. Instead, the city is being subject to a ‘chaka-chaka’ approach that is yet to deal with the numerous unplanned communities surrounding as well as in the city that remain fertile nurseries for crime and violence. To put it bluntly, the that city is being short-changed with respect to the extent that the tourism dollar has not been sufficiently used given its so-called status as the country’s tourism capital. ODETTE SOBERAM-DYER, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, JAMAICA, JAMAICA TOURIST BOARD MONTEGO BAY has proven to everyone that the city status bestowed 41 years ago is truly deserving. The city’s infrastructure has expanded immensely, adding to the value that it contributes to Jamaica. It is the fastest growing city in the Caribbean, and from a tourism perspective it is the fastest growing tourist destination during the COVID-19 recovery. The city boasts the leading airport and convention centre in the Caribbean, winning awards year after year. It is recognised as the tourist mecca of the Caribbean, attracting approximately 1 million stopover visitors annually pre-COVID-19. The city is poised for further growth and development and despite the challenges that the city faces there is much for Montegonians and non-Montegonian residents to be proud of and to call this city home. JAMAICA AT 60: MONTEGO BAY
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