KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -Jamaica’s tourism boom is now being channeled into housing for sector workers, with plans underway to deliver nearly 4,000 units in and around the second city of Montego Bay, the nation’s tourism capital.
Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, announced that arrangements are being finalized for the construction of 2,250 housing units in the community of Grange Pen.
He said that, together with Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Chairman Godfrey Dyer, he will meet with the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) and China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) to finalize the details ahead of the project’s groundbreaking.
“That will be added to a 1,500-unit housing program 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.
He was speaking during the recent reopening ceremony for the Eclipse at Half Moon Resort in the parish.
Bartlett indicated that, in the future, 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.
In the meantime, he noted that the sector’s pension program, the first of its kind globally, has, in just 2.5 years, accumulated over J$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 Organization (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 in the tourism industry.”
Additionally, the Minister advised that legislation will be reviewed to allow a portion of workers’ contributions to flow directly into the fund.
Bartlett indicated that this will ensure the fund continues to grow over time while delivering two key pillars of social security: retirement support and continuous healthcare coverage.
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