By Okoye Henry
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Jamaica’s tourism boom is now being channelled into housing for sector workers, with plans underway to deliver nearly 4,000 units in and around Montego Bay, St James — the nation’s tourism capital, Edmund Bartlett, announced that arrangements are being finalised for the construction of 2,250 housing units at Grange Pen, St James.
Minister Bartlett explained that, together with Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) chairman, Godfrey Dyer, he will meet with the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to finalise details ahead of the project’s groundbreaking.
“That will be added to a 1,500-unit housing programme in Barrett Hall, St James, that is currently [underway, for which] we broke ground… with the National Housing Trust (NHT). So just within your space, we will have pretty close to 4,000 houses for the workers of the industry,” Bartlett outlined, speaking during the reopening ceremony for the Eclipse at Half Moon Resort in Rose Hall, St James, on April 2.
Bartlett indicated that, going forward, any tourism development of 500 rooms or more will be required to incorporate a housing component for industry workers.
He said this measure is intended to reinforce the principle that the people who serve Jamaica’s visitors should have a stable place to call home.
Meantime, the minister noted that the sector’s pension programme — the first of its kind globally — has, in just two and a half years, accumulated over $6 billion in savings. At the current pace, he projected that the fund will reach $10 billion by the end of 2027.
“At that time, we’re going to establish a Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) for the workers. We’re going to take $2 billion from the fund to create the seeding money for that health facility and create a health scheme for every worker of the tourism industry,” Bartlett informed.
Additionally, the minister advised that legislation will be reviewed to allow a portion of workers’ contributions to flow directly into the fund. Minister Bartlett indicated that this will ensure that the fund continues to grow over time, while delivering two key pillars of social security — retirement support and continuous healthcare coverage.
