Shaw lauds Amaterra Group for agricultural component in resort development

Prime Minister Andrew Holness (6th left), Tourism Minister Hon Edmund Bartlett (7th left), Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw (5th right), and Amaterra Group Chairman Keith Russell (2nd right) participating in the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of 8,000 hotel rooms by Amaterra Group in Stewart Castle, Trelawny. The ceremony was held on Friday, April 12, 2019.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, has lauded the Amaterra Group for its integrated approach to the soon-to-be constructed 800-room resort on a beachfront property in Stewart Castle in Trelawny

“I am pleased with the plan to incorporate an agricultural component in the project, supplying the fruits and vegetables that the hotel will need and the plans to eventually expand this across the north coast. Jamaica’s tourism product will indeed be improved by this development.

“The manufacturing of inputs for the hotel such as its windows and furniture will also provide an economic boost for the local businesses,” said Mr. Shaw.

Minister Shaw, who was speaking at the official ground-breaking ceremony for the first 1,200 rooms of the multi-billion integrated resort development on Friday, April 12, 2019 at Stewart Castle, Trelawny, said that the integrated approach to the development is indicative of the thinking that is needed to bring about true economic benefits to the community in which the project is located and, by extension, the country.

“I want to congratulate the principals, Keith Russel of Amaterra Group Jamaica and Mustapha Deria of Rexton Capital, on the vision they share for the Amaterra Brand and the work that has been done so far towards getting the project off the ground,” Minister Shaw said.

The resort development will be one of the largest in Jamaica. The projection is for 8,000 hotel rooms to be constructed in the first phase to be followed by another 400 rooms in the second phase on the 1,000-acre property over time. The property will also include an industrial park, an entertainment and shopping complex and various local amenities.

Amaterra Jamaica Ltd. is a mixed-use land development company incorporated in Jamaica in July 2002 and is the master developer for the Amaterra Resort and related companies.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andrew Holness in giving the keynote address said that greater focus will have to be placed on the environment when Jamaica’s hospitality room stock reaches 50,000 within the next decade.

“We will reach 50,000 rooms in the next decade or less, and after that, we will have to consider very carefully the balance between the number of rooms and the environment and our strategy in the shift from numbers and quantity to quality and experience. We are now in that that phase where we are seeking to reimage and we want you to reimagine Jamaican tourism as the high-value, high-quality destination. We have all the elements to achieve that and we are working towards that. I am urging investors to get in on the action because the trajectory of the value of the industry is going to take off rapidly,” Prime Minister Holness added.

Keith Russell who is a former Trelawny Northern Member of Parliament cited that the development has come to fruition after starting three decades ago.

“This is the end of a well-planned journey by my wife Paula and myself. We started the journey 40 years ago, we thought it would be a 10-year sprint, at best. As it turned, it has been a 30 year run. So it has taken some time, it did not go according to script. Upon completion, the project will be a game changer for the tourism industry,” Mr. Russel informed.
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