PORT Royal is Jamaica’s diamond in the rough, and we need to carefully plan and sustainably develop this jewel which will make us so proud, we will be happy to share it with the world.

To begin with, we must first understand and commit to the concept of sustainable development, which is focused on ensuring that the development, first and foremost, benefits the people of the community.

The first steps in sustainability planning and development, which were undertaken by the Port Royal Development Company (PRDC), began with consultation and involvement of the people, and the representatives of the people in the planning phase. The citizens’ association, the councillor, the Member of Parliament and the caretakers, and other leaders in the community were integrally involved.

Secondly, before any construction and development started, the plans were exposed and shared with the people so they could study, ask questions and have input, based on their valuable local knowledge, for any adjustments and fine-tuning to be made.

Education, training, and general human resource development are critical at the early stages of planning to ensure the people of the community are prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that will come from development, and that they are not mere bystanders watching as the jobs and business opportunities are shared only by outsiders with little or no upliftment for the people in the community.

PRDC engaged the services of Edutech Centre to guide the programme, and established a learning centre at Port Royal All-Age School with the assistance of Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF). At the time, training programmes were implemented in Port Royal, with twenty computers installed at the school, so the children could be exposed to computers at an early age and adults could use them for learning in the evenings and on weekends.

Planning must always start from a position of taking careful stock of the state of the community in terms of the sociocultural and economic environment. This assessment is critical to identifying the key issues that need to be addressed.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sunday-finance/old-plans-should-be-reviewed-for-new-port-royal_165262