Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Desmond McKenzie, says work is progressing under the downtown Kingston redevelopment project.

He said that the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), one of the lead agencies in the undertaking, is continuing its engagements, and has been working closely with the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) to complete assessments for the latest slate of activities being embarked on.

He was speaking during Thursday’s (March 4) meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, whose members were reviewing the 2021/22 Estimates of Expenditure.

McKenzie said that among the work in progress is the laying of pipelines by the National Water Commission (NWC) to improve water distribution across downtown Kingston, and shoreline protection to “strengthen the coast”.

In addition, he informed that several roads have been rehabilitated and murals mounted in designated locations, pointing out that these are serving to “give a certain lift to downtown Kingston”.

Mckenzie said that among the recently completed engagements are: construction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade building and GraceKennedy Limited’s new executive offices.

“So, we are seeing notable developments taking place. More businesses are returning to downtown Kingston in a more meaningful way [but] a lot more needs to be done. We are hoping that we will see more private-sector stakeholders,”

he said.

McKenzie advised that addressing housing in downtown Kingston will form part of the upcoming round of programmed developments.