By Chris Patterson
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Prime minister, Andrew Holness, says the opening of the Kingston Logistics Park (KLP) is a significant investment and will bring more economic growth and job creation for the country.
“The opening of the KLP is a big deal […]. It demonstrates us, as a people, leveraging our God-given ideal location and using our natural assets to create prosperity for our people. This development means more foreign exchange earnings and higher quality jobs,” he said, speaking at the official opening of the facility in Kingston on Thursday, August 3.
The Kingston Logistics Park, which incorporates 18,000 square metres of warehouse space, falls under the wider Logistics Hub Initiative (LHI) designed to position the country as a global destination in cargo trans-shipment and logistics services.
The Park includes a border-protection centre, which houses the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) and the Container Security Initiative, which is a collaboration between the JCA and the United States government.
Holness said that the development is a “big deal and big step” in cementing Jamaica as an important logistics node and building the logistics industry.
He noted that the park represents the first phase of nine acres of near-port logistics facilities and is built to the standards and codes of world-class logistics hub operations.
“This is a big step … in [developing] a new industry that will create for us a new stream of foreign exchange revenues that will make our economy stronger and more robust and can withstand shocks, and that is why this is such a big deal,” the prime minister said.
President and chief executive officer, Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), Professor Gordon Shirley, noted that the investment represents another significant contribution by the PAJ in leveraging the opportunities in the sector to create economic growth and job creation.
“Today’s project launch signals our belief in our ability to catalyse the rapidly growing logistics sector,” he said. “As we look to the next 50 years as an Authority and the next 60 years as a country, we are convinced that the best is yet to come,” Shirley added.
