UDC Contract Signing and Groundbreaking for Raintree Commercial Complex
Keynote Address
By
Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
At the
UDC Contract Signing and Groundbreaking
for
Raintree Commercial Complex, Ferry Pen, St Catherine
On
April 16, 2025
_______________________________________________________________
Good afternoon, everyone.
Let me thank Naomi for her masterful conduct of the ceremony so far
And Apostle Rohan Edwards for prayer. Apostle Edwards does an incredible work in this area, in particular, Spanish Town with his 10,000 Man March; very important in mobilizing the community against crime and mobilizing our men in particular to be strong leaders in the homes and in the community. The social aspect of this project is very important and I’m happy to see that you are here with us praying for the success of this project and I commend you for your constant work.
Of course, our first citizen the Custos Rotulorum of the Parish of St Catherine, Costus Icylin Golding. Thank you for your message.
We have a very distinguished list of persons who have attended up upon this event, the Honourable Olivia Grange, the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sports, and every other thing. Of course, she’s here because she’s the Member of Parliament for Central St Catherine, which I’m certain will benefit significantly from this development.
We have also the Honourable Alando Terrelonge, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
There are other members of the House of Representatives here. I see Mr Robert Miller, MP.
MP Denise Daley is here.
And where is my good friend? I know this could not miss you, Tony. Last week we were at a similar event and Tony spoke at the event and at that event he made sure to outline the paternity. He literally came with the DNA test and I wouldn’t contest him on that one. Tony has been a good father to the whole business of logistics. Even in Opposition he continues to be an advocate, and you know me, I don’t like to take credit for things I don’t do or I did not do, but more than that, I give credit where it is due so I have no problem in acknowledging the work that Tony has done, both as a minister and as an advocate for logistics. I only claim to be a very good godfather in this matter so I don’t think there needs to be any more political banter as to who started, versus, and so forth. I’m happy to see you’re here, Tony, as you had promised that you would be.
Let me acknowledge my Permanent Secretary, Arlene Williams, who has worked very tirelessly in support of the UDC and this project.
Now, Norman Brown has taken on the chairmanship of the UDC and I see the former chairman is here as well, Ransford. And both gentlemen have worked very hard to restore the UDC to the pride of place, which it deserves to occupy as Jamaica’s premier urban development entity. I want to thank Norman Brown and his board and the executive team at the UDC. I say a few words there because it’s important that it be said.
The public bureaucracy can last forever. Ronald Reagan in a speech says that the closest thing to an eternal organism is the public bureaucracy, paraphrasing it. Meaning that when you establish it as a government, particularly when you give it statutory life, and even when that statutory life gives it a mandate, sometimes it can lose its mission. The law gives it a mandate, but it is the policies and the politics and the people that gives it the mission that is the drive and energy to execute the mandate.
It is instructive that the UDC was dormant essentially in disregard for 27 years, 27 years since the UDC undertook a development like this. This is not to say that in the last nine years the UDC has not undertaken several other important developments. The one that I’m particularly proud of is Harmony Park in St James, and I’m certain that I will be exceedingly proud of the Resilient Park in the soon-to-be Parish of Portmore, the fulfilment of the mandate of urban development.
And in those 27 years, the staff that is there can get very frustrated. People who want to see things happen, who have gotten their academic qualifications and they want to contribute to the country and they say, I want to work at an entity like the UDC and then they end up in an entity where they are spinning in circles and not moving forward. They get frustrated, they lose the missioning and as far as they are concerned, they are just there to perfect the bureaucracy meaning that the measure of their success is how many pieces of paper they sign.
What we have been trying to do with entities like the UDC is to change the bureaucratic culture that it is the process and not the outcome so I’m looking at the staff here and I sense a new pride in them that what they have gone to school for as architects and civil engineers and urban planners, they can actually now see that come to fruition.
It is easy for them to just go home with their pay every month and achieve absolutely nothing and when they retire and they’re telling stories to their grandchildren and their grandchildren say, so what did you achieve? At that time they realize that they were just a cog in the wheel spinning and not going anywhere, and that is a challenge with bureaucracy.
When we say we have to change the bureaucracy immediately in the minds of some, they’re thinking that we’re going to have to shut down and lay off people and fire people; that’s not how you change bureaucracy. You change the bureaucracy by getting the people who are there to produce more. This project is an example of us reviving a bureaucracy making use of the resources that are at its disposal. So yes, we’re going to celebrate the groundbreaking and the new development that will come here, but I want you to equally appreciate that you are seeing the transformation of the UDC bureaucracy.
I can tell you there’s an energy in the UDC now because they have accomplished Harmony Park, they have accomplished or about to bring to completion the Portmore Resilient Park. I didn’t say I’m going to assign the Mandeville Park to them, but they want it. What that tells you, when the energy starts to pick up in the public bureaucracy, that’s more productivity. The Heroes Circle Government Circle Project, they’re ready to go on that and there are other developments in the Caymanas stretch here, which we will speak about, the chairman told you of some of them, that they’re now going to focus on housing as well. So, it is a good thing. I’m here as well to celebrate the reemergence of the UDC as Jamaica’s premier urban development entity.
It is a pleasure to join you for this important occasion, the official contract signing and groundbreaking for the Rain Tree Commercial Complex here at Caymanas Estates in St Catherine. Today marks the materialization of a long held vision, a vision of transforming underutilized land in this district into a center of economic activity, employment innovation and inclusive growth. A vision for how we move Jamaica from potential to progress. We are laying the foundation for a future of economic expansion, job creation, and spatial transformation that will serve generations to come.
Let me begin by congratulating the UDC for its unwavering commitment in the revitalization of this bold initiative. Your stewardship of the Caymanas Estate Development Area, or as we’re gonna shorten it and call it the CEDA, reflects the very purpose for which the UDC was established to drive sustainable urban transformation in a way that balances development with environmental stewardship and social inclusion. This moment represents the fruits of patient coordinated planning by the Urban Development Corporation in partnership with government ministries, regulatory agencies, investors, and the communities surrounding the site.
The Caymanas Estate Development area of which this Raintree development is apart has long been earmarked as one of the most strategically valuable land banks in the Kingston metropolitan region encompassing over 10,000 acres across the St Catherine/ St Andrew boundary. The area sits at the convergence of three major highways, the Edward Seaga, PJ Patterson, and Nelson Mandela Highways, giving it unmatched accessibility to kingston, Spanish Town, Portmore and other key logistics gateway.
For decades, this land held potential. Tday we are converting that potential into progress. We are converting dreams into reality. I will pause here and say, as we are in the promising season, there will be many promises made, many dreams will be foretold, many soothe sayers will be brought to explain and promote these dreams. And I see Bishop nodding because he gets the term of who the soothe sayers are in a biblical sense. They come to interpret the dreams and to ease your minds of concerns. These are the people who come and they speak eloquently and they sell you horses that can fly and even smart people believe them. And since we are in that season of soothe saying and promises, it is important to establish the credibility of this administration. I did not come here to promise to do this.
Every week I am breaking ground, commissioning, turning on, handing over, very important. Every administration has dreams. They will come up with good ideas. As an academic myself, the training that you receive is that you never try to take someone’s ideas without acknowledging it, without giving credit. Otherwise, it becomes plagiarism frowned upon so I am very careful when it comes to ideas. I don’t hide ideas. If I have ideas, you will never hear me say I won’t put them out because I fear that someone will take them. And I will also tell you if you have a good idea, yes, I will take it and implement it.
So there is no need to worry that a good idea will not be implemented under this administration and in that way, you don’t need to change administration. I am the best baby father for ideas, so as Tony is the biological father of logistics, and I’m sure people will contest it because I’m sure people will point to the free zones and so forth of the Edward Seaga period, but the point is that in the modern era, in this era of linking it with shipping and supply chains and so forth, the concept of the logistics hub was really on paper defined with Tony as minister, and in fact, the logistics hub concept was with Tony.
The challenge was with the implementation as is the challenge with any idea, you need a bureaucracy to implement it. And what I have had the privilege to do and I thank Jamaica for giving me this incredible privilege, is to be able to execute the ideas of leaders that have gone before me and I do my best to give credit to the persons who have the ideas, but I am always happy to break the ground, to turn on the water, to hand it over, to sign the contract, to get it done. I see myself in the grand scheme of Jamaica’s development as the deliverer in chief, the builder, get it done so I don’t have a problem and I am unashamed in saying that I’m happy to be partnering and working with persons who have great ideas. If you have great ideas, carry them come to me. I will get it done.
I’m sure that Tony was dreaming of this for a long time and that is why he’s here. I’m sure there are others there. I remember Karl Samuda sitting in Cabinet in 2007 to 2009 conceiving and trying to get this project going. I have heard others speak of the Caymanas Special Economic Zone, and it just couldn’t happen but we are now getting it done. So, how I see things is, yes, come up with the ideas and let us share in the success of the delivery. Tony is here sharing in this success of the delivery, if we do that as a nation, we will be much better off and that is how I’m trying to do development.
Raintree is the first phase of a wider transformation of over 3,400 acres of developable land in this critical area at the crossroads of Kingston, Portmore and Spanish Town. Block one alone where we now stand encompasses 108 acres of subdivided land dedicated to commercial and light industrial development. With today’s groundbreaking, we take the first definitive step in activating a space that has been zoned, masterplaned and environmentally assessed to support a new generation of enterprise and employment. It will deliver a much-needed supply of serviced investment-ready lots in proximity to major roads and urban centers fulfilling a market gap for modern commercial infrastructure outside of Kingston’s core.
The vision is clear. Create a space where businesses large and small can thrive in an environment supported by first rate infrastructure, connectivity, and sustainability. Let me place this project in the broader context of the government’s economic strategy. Jamaica is experiencing a sustained phase of macroeconomic stability. Over the last decade, we have reduced our debt from nearly 150% of GDP to under 70%. We have maintained fiscal discipline. We have built record reserves, and even in the face of unprecedented global shocks and uncertainty, we have remained committed to a path of responsible governance. The result; businesses, business and consumer confidence are high, employment is at historic high levels, and Jamaica’s fundamentals are strong. To keep moving forward, we must expand the productive footprint of the economy. That means making land available strategically, affordably, and with proper infrastructure for new investments to take root and grow; that is why projects like Raintree matter, they make growth happen.
The Raintree Commercial Complex is projected to attract capital investment of at least Jamaican $3.8 billion in infrastructure and will support long-term private investments exceeding Jamaican $15 billion. During construction, we expect 2000 jobs to be created and over the long term this complex has a potential to accommodate more than 5,000 permanent jobs, many of which will be in high growth sectors such as business process outsourcing, logistics, manufacturing, warehousing, and other commercial activities. As such, this project represents real opportunities for people. Yes, I can see the welders, the technicians, the engineers, the administrative staff, the ICT professionals and small entrepreneurs. This is how we translate our economic gains into better lives for the people.
The over $15 billion of projected private investment on this site driven by the sale of the development lots will have a multiplier effect feeding directly into the local economy, creating demand for jobs, services, housing, and transportation and that is how development works best when it generates self-reinforcing cycles of opportunity and progress. We are creating a virtuous cycle of peace, productivity, and prosperity. Our macroeconomic progress has enabled us to make significant investments in our infrastructure and in improving our national security apparatus and the capacity and capability of our security forces. We are seeing the payoff from these investments as crime is now at a 25 year low. As I was met on the entry by a aCP McKenzie- congratulations, Dr Mackenzie, he pointed out that as of today, they are 36.9% below where they were this time last year in murders; just round that up to 37.
Jamaica is becoming more peaceful. This enables us to be more productive as a country. To further increase productivity, we are reducing bureaucracy and improving the ease of doing business in Jamaica. This will enable businesses to thrive and we will attract even greater investment and keep this virtuous cycle of peace, productivity, and prosperity going but the value of this project goes beyond jobs and GDP. Equally important is the way in which this project has been planned, and I want to spend a little bit of time on this because whenever we do development, there is this tension in the society that somehow development is not respectful and sensitive to the environment and I want to assure the stakeholders who are advocates for the environment, that the government is sensitive and we believe that you must never trade off your environmental assets at the altar of economic progress. That’s a fundamental belief of the government.
We also believe that with the deep respect for the environment, but with the embrace of technology and understanding local customs and people, that we can usually find a happy equilibrium where we can be good stewards of the environment and at the same time secure economic benefit for our people. The error we make is in believing that our environmental assets can be secured in poverty. Poverty is one of the greatest threats to our environmental assets so as a nation we have to figure out this very complex equation of how do we use our environmental assets, protect them and preserve them, and at the same time reduce poverty because in the reduction of poverty, you increase the understanding of the people who use the assets and you convert them into stewards and wardens of the environmental assets, and that is how you create this virtuous cycle of using your environmental assets to create economic opportunities to uplift people, for people to take care of the environmental assets. And that is a message that I want to deliver both to our environmental advocates and to our planners in the government so that you understand clearly the direction of the government.
So, equally important is the way in which this project has been planned. The infrastructure works permitted by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority are comprehensive and forward-looking. The internal road network will adhere to both local and international standards. The drainage system has been designed to maintain the natural hydrology of the area with careful attention to water quality and habitat preservation. A modern sewage system will connect to the Soapberry Water Treatment Plant, which will be expanded by the way. In fact, with this connection, it has to be expanded. A portable water supply will come initially from the National Water Commission and then later from the Caymanas well field.
Fire safety has been factored in with hydrants placed throughout the development. Electrical infrastructure will be provided by JPS under a coordinated plan, and landscaping will ensure that this commercial zone is not only functional. But also environmentally pleasing and respectful of the green spaces around it. This development has taken into account the environmental and social realities of the space.
The Caymanas Estate contains wetlands and forested areas of ecological significance. Accordingly, over 50% of the overall master plan will be preserved in green spaces. Extensive environmental assessments, including flora and fauna studies and large tree surveys were conducted to mitigate any negative impacts. These measures have not only satisfied regulatory requirements, they reflect our national commitment to responsible and sustainable development. And as I read this part, I saw the head of NEPA smiling. Now, just to be clear, the wider development area, not this specific area, is over 3,400 hectares of land and the UDC has control over it and the environmental assets in there that are deemed to be of critical necessity for the maintenance of the ecological balance of the area, those areas will be protected.
On the social side, the UDC engaged the Social Development Commission to conduct baseline economic surveys of nearby communities, particularly the Caymanas Village and Ferry. The area is home to nearly 230 residents, and the UDC has taken deliberate steps to minimize displacement and disruption. Notably, 27 farmers who were cultivating lands here have been identified, consulted, and offered relocation to nearby zoned agricultural plots under new licensing arrangement. That is what people-centered development looks like, building with people in mind.
We are moving into a new era of master planned development in Jamaica. No more ‘chaka chaka’ development. This is not development by chance, this is development by design. This project sets a new standard for how we build our future; thoughtful, responsible, and with a clear vision for national progress, that is what we have done with the Bernard Lodge development. If you get a chance, please go over there and see the future of Jamaica materializing before your very eyes. That is what we have done with the Moran Bay Urban Centre. When you get a chance, just go down there and see the development of Jamaica’s first modern purpose-built Urban Centre except for New Kingston and Downtown. We just signed the contract a few days ago for the Boundbrook Urban Centre in Portland so I’m not here giving you a sample. This is now a trend. This is something that we have done and we will continue to do
So, as we look ahead let me say clearly that we are on this journey. Block one is the first of seven designated development blocks within the CEDA master plan. With the successful rollout of Raintree, we anticipate accelerated momentum for blocks two through seven, and this will include housing, maybe more industrial estates. I am going to insist upon the UDC that they leave some land for industrial agriculture because it’s nice flat land that can easily be automated and because it is close to the large Kingston market, it could do very well. So, some of it will be reserved for agricultural use, more recreation space. In fact, some of the areas that we’re preserving, they can also be recreation spaces.
And of course, Jamaica really needs modern urban spaces. Young people always say one of the reasons why they want to migrate is that they want to be in a space that looks and feels good, that they have space to walk on the road that is not congested and you’re fighting with people to move; they want modern facilities. They watch it all the time on Netflix and so forth, and they see how other societies look and then when they have to contend with our society, they feel like no progress is being made. So, we are now setting the basis on which we can build modern urban spaces that will accommodate our daily life: transportation, commute, shopping, entertainment, sports, recreation, and just modern residential living. We are now developing the foundation for that to happen.
There are a few points that are not in my script which must be made. Jamaica has experience in developing industrial estates. Two come to mind readily, Twicknam Park Industrial Estate just on the edge of Spanish Town and Newport West. I raised those two because the state of their common infrastructure is in a deplorable state of disrepair. We have recently struck up an arrangement, public-private partnership with the owners and operators within Newport West and the NWA to jointly fund the repair of some of their roads.
I have said to the UDC chairman, who I’m sure will be giving instructions to the management team, that in the same way we have developed the new Shared Communities Act, which was tabled in Parliament, we hope to debate it and pass which will govern how shared community property within residential communities are managed. We will have to have an arrangement for this development so that it doesn’t fall into the dispair that others have fallen into 20 years from now.
Unfortunately, we have developed a culture where we believe an asset will last a lifetime. We have two bad cultures in that regard, we believe it must take a lifetime to build the asset and that the asset will last a lifetime.; that’s not how it works. The asset has a useful life. You extend the useful life by continually investing in the asset and therefore when these lands are sold, there really ought to be some contractual obligations as to how the common assets are maintained. And indeed, there ought to be contractual obligations as to how the developers develop and use their land and the common property.
The second point that I will raise unscripted, but important, the UDC was established as a development entity, yes, but another part of its role which is equally important, is that it must be a land bank for urban development. So, the UDC should be scouting Jamaica and seeing where lands are available or properties available and acquire them in advance of the need for urban development. There are many persons who are looking on the UDC’S Land Bank and saying the UDC has these lands and are not doing anything with them, they must divest them. The government shares that view, and we have given a directive that the UDC and other entities, that hold land should seek to divest a certain percentage of it but we have also put a counterweight to that momentum.
It is not the intention of government to transfer lands to people for them to become land banks. Meaning for them to gain from the capital appreciation in the value of the land and do nothing with it. That’s not what this is about, and I want to be clear to the people who have purchased or who intend to purchase, that there is a performance clause in the sale agreement that if you do not do what you proposed in the sale when you purchase the land, then you would’ve violated that clause and the land would then return to the UDC at the sale price. I want to be very clear on that. This is not a speculative activity. If you intend to speculate, don’t come here because that would just defeat the purpose of this. The purpose of this is to get people employed, to generate new markets and to give income to communities. It’s not to make other people rich by doing nothing other than owning the land and sitting on it. I want to be clear on that. And for those who believe it has not happened, I can point to at least two examples which the UDC has used the performance clause to reclaim land.
Another point that must be made, and I thought very carefully about making it, but it needs to be said. Last year I broke ground for a new wing at the Spanish Town Hospital, and at that ground breaking, I was quite clear that if it took the deployment of the JDF to secure the site and to run the site as if it were a military barracks, then that is what I will do to ensure that no criminal, that no don, that no one who feels that they have control over any area can come here and say they are securing the site or extorting. If we allow that to take root at the beginning of the construction, then we would’ve given up the sovereign control of the state over the development and set the basis on which things like extortion would reign.
So for those criminals listening, for those dons listening, for those who feel that they have control over this area, try it and see. Yes man, try it and see. Play the fool and find out. I can’t be any clearer in my statement, and I hope that you’ll see the passion that I have. I keep telling people it took us nine years to get to this point. There are those who believe what is happening today, started yesterday. No, we have been planning this for nine years. It took us nine years to put in zones of special operation, deployment of the states of public emergency. Whilst that was happening, we were investing in the JDF maximizing the equipment and capability and training. We have moved the JDF from a compliment of about 4,000. There are a little bit over 8,000 now and when we were doing that, we were criticized that we are militarizing policing. And then we started to invest heavily in the police changing their vehicles, changing their telecommunications, changing their training and doctrine and leadership, investing in their investigative capabilities and intelligence gathering. The JCF today is not the same as the JCF 10 years ago. Cases that would happen and go cold and no results, within weeks, you are seeing the results. So, those criminals who believe that they are operating in the same space are mistaken and it is important that I warn them because when they get what is coming to them and they are those who will cry out in sympathy for them, the society will know that I went to great lengths publicly to warn them. And I would encourage you to take my words seriously.
So ladies and gentlemen, on that sobering note, it is indeed, again, a great pleasure to have the contract signing and groundbreaking. Jamaica is on a good path. It’s not perfect, but it is better than what we have had, and there is better to come.
God bless you and thank you. Choose Jamaica.