Falmouth Pier – Trelawny

Earlier this year I expressed the idea of whether Jamaica would be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities that become available when the global economic recession comes to an end or at least improves.  The project at Falmouth represents just such an opportunity but are we ready to benefit from it.

The first concern that is raised is the delay in the completion of the project which has been delayed from May 2010 to November 2010 to January 2011 and more recently a date of March 2011 has been suggested.  There are times when our culture of “no problem” with its laid back attitude can be our worst enemy.  We have a culture that does not encourage planning and certainly does not foster meeting deadlines.  The cruise lines plan their itinerary years in advance and need the assurance of the facilities being available.  They have little tolerance for those who can’t meet their requirements and have many alternative sites.  The government does not seem to appreciate this factor and my position is that if local developers can’t complete the job on time then overseas ones should be used instead.

There also seems to be a lot of doubt surrounding whether the town itself will be ready.  Tours will need to be organised both within the parish as well as to other parishes.  A craft market with suitable shops as well as products has to be established.  In addition one needs duty free shopping, local food restaurants for those who wish to taste our cuisine and hair dressing for those wanting braids or other of our unique stylings.  Cruise ship passengers are very different from overnight tourists in what they require and I am not sure that we are focusing on meeting those needs.

Estimates of expected visitors range from six hundred thousand to more than a million.  Rest room facilities need to be in place as it would be impractical and unreasonable to send them back to the ship.   I do not know if Falmouth will be closed to vehicular traffic but once again I suggest that it be so as to enhance the experience of the visitors.  Ocho Rios is already counting their losses and one of the complaints of visitors is their onshore experience.  The failure to close off the square and to improve facilities such as the craft market has contributed to the situation.  Special attention has to be paid to preserving the environment in order to ensure its continuing viability.

It is good to see that Dolphin Cove and Chucker Cove are spending money to improve their offerings.  There are many other attractions which are not upgrading including places like James Bond beach.  This project has the opportunity to create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly but we have yet to demonstrate that we are up to the task.