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SPEAKING NOTES – Dr Graham – Third City

Madame Chairperson
Mr William Tavares Finson, UDC Board Director
Ms Suzanne Leslie Bailey, UDC Board Director
UDC Leadership Team and Staff Members
Members of the Third City Planning Committee
Presenters, Stakeholders, specially invited guests

Good morning team Jamaica

Today is a great day in Jamaica’s history. It is a proud celebration of our progressive spirit as a developing nation. Here ladies and gentlemen, we are building on the vision of our great ancestors. This is our now moment. A chance to cement Jamaica’s place in the annals of history as the most advanced nation in the Caribbean.

Here in this close setting for a few hours, we will help to move the pieces into place as we impact the planning process for Jamaica’s third city through the critical review of these terms of references. This calls for every ounce of experience, insight, foresight and broad perspectives that life has afforded us. This requires tremendous visioning.

Speaking of visioning let me invite you into the future. At your indulgence, I ask that you close your eyes and imagine with me for a few moments…

It is 2031 and the UDC celebrates 62 years of transformational urban development in Jamaica by having a grand gala celebration at the Kingston waterfront that hosts 500,000 patrons from festival market place, all the way to the iconic music museum and along the Palisadoes Promenade and the newly built Henry Morgan Park in Port Royal.

             Freedom Park in Montego Bay is hosting 300,000 patrons consisting of locals and tourists who stretch from the Montego Pier along the new promenade past the iconic monument trail and going all the way to Dead End Park.

In the newly built third city, the mayor, governor general and prime minister are cutting the ribbon in the brand new civic center called Technology Park. The third City celebrations are hosting 200,000 patrons of locals and visitors who arrive into the city

 Jamaica has become the 4th logistics hub with numerous urban development program interventions lead by the UDC which has transformed the economy to one of the strongest in the region.

The UDC has created 12 new green spaces in addition to Emancipation Park, Freedom Park, and Technology Park in each town.

Some may ask why the UDC? We believe that the UDC is rightly placed to undertake and lead a project of this nature by being the government’s main urban and regional development agency and also by having a track record of renewing and revitalizing several of Jamaica’s main urban centers.

The UDC in conjunction with the third city planning committee has determined the site selection methodology for the third city. Terms of references have been prepared to procure the specialist skills required to complete this process. In view of the scale and scope of this project in addition to the fact that the consultants must consult with other government and non-government entities to inform their work, we have organized this stakeholder meeting with you select entities and professionals.

We hope to at the end of the day create the opportunity for refining of the terms of reference for each task, get your buy in as a stakeholder agency and rank the main criteria for the selection of the site for the city.

Keep in mind though the broad vision as the third city planning will take time but we can definitively say that this will be a phased process with Phase 1 Focusing on Site Selection, Phase 2- Master Planning and Phase 3- Implementation

Will it be in the north, south, east, west or centre of Jamaica? Everyone is asking. We cannot say where it will be but we can say where it will not be, and that is Kingston and Montego Bay

Even as we work hard today, lets spend time to enjoy each other’s company, benefit from the rigorous analysis and network.

Thank you all for coming

September 26, 2017