Government has got the go ahead from the organization representing the fishing community and shop owners in the Fisherman’s Village on the edge of Ocho Rios to create a modern commercial complex there.
Last week, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) signed an agreement with the Sailor’s Hole Fisherman’s Benevolent Society for a major development of the area.
Compensation of some $75 million dollars will be paid to shop owners and fisher folk with some getting as much as $900,000 based on their assets. But some told the North Coast Times that what they were being offered is not enough.
The spot is one to which many locals and tourists are attracted for real Jamaican sea food cuisine and just to chill out. It’s also a major landing spot and vending location for fishing boats operating from the beach there next to Margaritaville and not far from the Reynolds Pier.
The area though has been an eyesore for years with very little attention to sanitation and general aesthetics, with very uneven status of the mainly temporary buildings.
The deal for The UDC/PAJ to go ahead with their development that will necessarily mean the temporary shutdown of at least 30 shops was agreed last week after weeks of negotiation among the three sides.
Orville Grant, president of Sailor’s Hole Fisherman’s Benevolent Society of Ocho Rios says the agreement represents progress for the fisher folk and shop owners involved and for Ocho Rios which he says is losing tourism business, especially in cruise shipping.
Mr Grant says the Society was registered this year May after being formed last year and has some 85 members including owners of bars, restaurants and shops, fishermen, those who clean the fish and vendors.
He said they voted to accept the agreement which comes with a package of some $75 million, as compensation for the loss of shops that have to be torn down and the displacement of some of those now operating there. He told the North Coast Times that valuation of all the shops was done by the Land Agency and that an added amount, above the valuation, will be given to each shop owner.
Mr Grant says current shop owners will be given first right of rental of the shops to be built. It’s understood that twelve small shops and four large ones will be built to be operated as craft shops, bars and restaurants. Mr Grant says the small shops will rent for $25,000 a month and the larger ones for about $100,000 a month for rent and maintenance. Asked about the fact that twice the number of shop owners now operate compared to shops to be built, he said some people had indicated they would not maintain an interest in the shops.
Fishermen will continue to operate through the period of months of renovation of the village. “Everyone will benefit. Fishermen will be there right through,” he said.
The UDC in a release indicated that facilities will be constructed that will be available for the benefit of fisher folk, including jetties, storage facilities for fish and commercial de-scaling/gutting facilities.
Mr Grant said everything was done to protect and enhance the position of those now using the Fisherman’s village and they would maintain their “right to access to the beach, to remain on the beach and operate there. We will have rights for generations to come.”
“We have nothing to hide. It was all transparent. It’s the best thing for all the stakeholders there and for Ochi too,” he told The Times.
